The vision of an 'urban corridor stretching from Los Angeles to San Diego' will eventually destroy the coastal zone in Southern California and pollute the ocean so badly; nobody will be able to swim there anymore. Most of this coastline resides in Orange County ..and from what I've seen .. Orange County leaders are not good stewards of the land. When shortsighted urban planners ran out of room ..they wanted to extend a six-lane freeway over one of the few remaining coastal habitats in California ..the San Mateo creek near San Clemente. OC leaders immediately got in a fight with the coastal community; a vicious breed of environmentalists and surfers. It was a battle OC couldn't win. After fighting for 20 years ..20 fucking years .. they lost Thursday when the US Department of Commerce agreed with the coastal community and refused to approve it. First, I am amazed that the Federal government, under the Bush Administration, would go along with anything in the interest of California ..especially anything having to do with the environment. I applaud them. Second, I'm frightened by the bullheaded, right-wing conservative leaders in Orange County who fought so hard for the right to foul their environment. I was particularly concerned when I heard Tustin councilman Jerry Amante say that he doesn't feel it's in his interest to protect the coastline. The San Mateo creek is a natural watershed that, like other wetlands, cleanses runoff before entering the ocean. It flows into the ocean just above San Onofre ..one of the few places left where you can still camp on the beach. It flows directly into a legendary surf spot called Trestles ..a break that is actually formed from sediments deposited by the creek. Now, I'm not talking about protecting the birds or other wildlife ..I'm talking about protecting the people who live there ..but I guess that's not in the interest of Orange County.
4 comments:
I was 15 in 1966 when my grandparents lived by San Clemente State Park so the climb into Trestles to see the pipeline was an homage. I never developed a passion for surfing but I was one of the last at Dana Point.
ah HA! another one of us
I somehow made my comment to this post on the Net Interest posting :s Go figure, don't know how I did that, but you might want to delete it, it's numbingly out of place... anyways, I love the pics here, and the music. I have that same music, somewhere in my collection of music, very beautiful. Oh, the sadness for all the things that get lost, in the name of commerce... so wonderful to know that, for now, things are on the right side, here. May it continue to fall in the right direction for you, and for the many.
Thank you for your kind words to the few, and the many, and the place where they live ..
..wooden flutes are what I hear coming from my neighbors house when he’s not touring.
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