Sacramento Bee: Letter to the Editor

In response to a story I didn't like in Wednesday's Sacramento Bee about the proposed Sunrise Powerlink that would destroy Anza Borrego Desert State Park, I wrote and submitted the following letter to the editor:

I read "Greens like idea of renewable energy, balk at the reality" with concern. We have been dragging our feet on renewable energy for years; and now SDG&E, with the increasingly vitriolic support of our Governor, is pushing us to destroy our parks and protected wilderness areas. Why? To play a sloppy game of renewable energy catch up that will earn SDG&E a lot of money and steal natural treasures. It doesn't have to be this way. We can implement renewable and clean(er) energy generation measures in western and central San Diego county. We can conserve electricity. Solutions are well documented in the San Diego Smart Energy 2020 report and elsewhere. Also, renewable energy technologies continue to improve; and these advances will accelerate in the coming years as academic and industry research matures. We must not allow knee-jerk fear reactions to unfounded threats of power shortages -- and attempts to turn us against ourselves with anti-environmentalist rhetoric -- to lead us to degrade and destroy some of the most pristine and wild desert and mountain lands we still have. Future generations deserve to inherit the natural wonders we have managed to preserve.