From the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, in a commentary by former
U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey:
On a warm evening in 1988 at the Democratic National Convention
in Atlanta, I sat with a group of women delegates from the North
Coast listening to Rachel Binah — our coastal protection
political and spiritual leader — who was rallying us to oppose
offshore oil and support then-Rep. Barbara Boxer.
In the North Bay, protecting family farms is a popular cause. So
is maintaining natural habitat and open space. The battle over
Drakes Bay Oyster Co. is a product of a clash between those
values.
San Francisco’s Ocean Beach may be one long stretch of sand, but
no fewer than six government bureaucracies are tasked with
keeping it and the neighboring Great Highway from washing away as
winter storms and rising seas batter them.
President Obama announced a series of measures Tuesday to protect
parts of the world’s oceans, including the creation of a marine
sanctuary that would close a large swath of the central Pacific
to fishing and energy development.
“The crews are building what boosters say represents California’s
best hope for a drought-proof water supply: the largest ocean
desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere. The $1 billion
project will provide 50 million gallons of drinking water a day
for San Diego County when it opens in 2016.”
“In Congress, seniority still matters. Although lawmakers
can no longer earmark funds for home-state projects, Sen. Barbara
Boxer (D-Calif.) has written into a massive water bill a measure
that promises to bring more money to the ports of Los Angeles and
Long Beach.”
“An aide to Jerry Brown confirmed Wednesday that the governor was
wrong when he said global warming would eventually cause rising
seawater to inundate Los Angeles International Airport.”
“California will face billions of dollars in spending to cope
with the consequences of rising sea levels if low-lying
communities along the coast are ultimately submerged, as
scientists predict, Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday.”
“A large section of the mighty West Antarctica ice sheet has
begun falling apart and its continued melting now appears to be
unstoppable, two groups of scientists reported on Monday.”
“A slow-motion and irreversible collapse of a massive
cluster of glaciers in Antarctica has begun, and could cause sea
levels to rise across the planet by another 4 feet within 200
years, scientists concluded in two studies released Monday.”
“Cementing protection for one of the largest privately owned
pieces of land on California’s 1,100-mile coastline, a San
Francisco environmental group on Monday donated to the public the
Coast Dairies property — a pastoral expanse of rolling meadows,
redwood forests and panoramic ocean views north of Santa Cruz.”
“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a
plan to more than double the size of two marine sanctuaries,
extending their northern boundary from Bodega Bay more than 60
miles north to Point Arena.”
“Small tsunami waves and other unusual ‘water movements’ arrived
on the California coast Wednesday following an 8.2 earthquake
that struck Chile’s northern coast.”
“There’s not much dispute these days, up and down the [North
Carolina] coast, about whether the ocean is rising. The
question is: How high will it go here, and how fast?
“North Carolinians must wait until 2016 for an official answer.
That’s the law.”
“If a 9.0 earthquake were to strike along California’s sparsely
populated North Coast, it would have a catastrophic ripple
effect.
“A giant tsunami created by the quake would wash away coastal
towns, destroy U.S. 101 and cause $70 billion in damage over a
large swath of the Pacific coast.”
