2019 Summer Party
Thanks again to Janette and Doug Shelton for hosting our summer party/BBQ. We are honored to have Representative Mike Levin join us and provide us an update of his work. It was great to hear from many of our local candidates. The food was delicious, weather was perfect, our raffle was a hit and best of all the company was awesome!
Special shout out to Phil Currier for tending to the grill.
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NEVER AGAIN CA DEMONSTRATIONS
Never Again CA invites us to this weekend’s demonstrations.
Saturday, Aug 10 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Sunday, Aug 11 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Lomas Sante Fe in Solana Beach immediately east of I-5 in front of the Wells Fargo Bank. Plenty of Parking on side street.
Join us to make a statement against gun violence!
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SD County Democratic Party Platform
In case you’re interested in providing feedback on the platform for our local party I’m sending you the link to the document. This was sent out by our San Diego County Democratic Party Chair, Will Rodriguez-Kennedy. Refer to link below.
This message is from an email sent out by Will:
This draft represents the cumulative work of the platform committee which has done an amazing job in putting this document together while balancing competing interests and incorporating your feedback.
The Platform Committee has submitted this document to the central committee via a unanimous vote of the Platform Committee.
Thank you to Co-Chairs Chyann Cox and Bryan Pease as well as platform committee members Georgine Tomasi, Matt Corrales, Christina Perry, Bob Grand, Maya De La Rosa, and Temika Cook.
Also thanks to the dozens of individuals who attended, provided feedback and language for the committee’s consideration.
The Central Committee will be considering approval of this document on August 20th, 2019.
Should you have any questions email chyann.marie@gmail.com and bryan@bryanpease.com
Link to document –>https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b3dec709fcd132047bf6adb33/files/148cd25e-5930-485a-bce5-d4f2100c21d1/Final_Proposal_of_SDCDP_Platform.pdf
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Club Business
September meeting:
Our next monthly meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 26 at 6 p.m. We are working on securing a location and will send out a notice. We will consider endorsing the resolutions below. Please review.
Our club will vote for friendly endorsements for Senator Toni Atkins, Congressman Scott Peters and Congressman Mike Levin.
Our speaker for the September meeting is Sheri Sachs and she will speak about SD Citizen FBI Academy and the Middle East.
October meeting:
Scheduled for Thursday, October 24th at 6 p.m. Location TBD. We will be voting endorsements at this meeting. Must be a member in good standing to place your vote to endorse. Please check out the bylaw document on our website to review the endorsement policy. Email us at torreypinesdems@gmail.com if you have questions regarding our endorsement process.
Proposed endorsements:
San Diego
Mayor:
Gita Appelbaum, Barbara Bry, J’erek Evans, Todd Gloria, Beatrice Marion, Daniel Smiechowski, Tasha Williamson
City Attorney:
Mara Elliott*, Cory Briggs
City Council District 1:
Aaron Brennan, Joe LaCava, Will Moore, Harid Puentes, Louis Rodolico
State Assembly:
District 78: Sarah Davis, Micah Perlin, Chris Ward
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Resolutions to up for a vote to approve at the September club meeting:
Fossil Fuel
Last year over 800 organizations worldwide called on then-Governor Jerry Brown to announce an end to fossil fuel industry expansion and an equitable phase out of the state’s dirty oil production ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco. While Brown failed to follow through on his promise of climate leadership, we mobilized thousands of people to the streets of San Francisco and fortified our movement on the road toward victory. Governor Newsom now has a historic opportunity to pick up this mantle.
As environmental, health, justice, faith, labor, community, parent, indigenous rights and consumer organizations from California and around the world, we are excited to launch the next phase of our campaign — Last Chance Alliance. As federal lawmakers consider proposals for a Green New Deal and as Governor Newsom develops the agenda for the next four years of progress on environmental justice and climate action in California, he can set a global standard for climate leadership — one that prioritizes health, justice, and equity.
Please join us (see 500+ Alliance members below the letter) in asking Governor Newsom to take the historic step of becoming the first elected leader of a major oil-producing region to end new permits for fossil fuel projects and to equitably phase out the state’s dirty oil production.
Green New Deal
350.org has asked us to consider signing on to the following resolution. We noted this in our previous email to club members. Please read and be ready to vote.
Green New Deal Resolution for Dem Clubs
Calling on our Congressional Delegation for Climate Leadership
Context: We want to invite active Democrats in San Diego County, many of whom are supportive of the Green New Deal and are disappointed at the lack of climate action to support a resolution to encourage our entire Congressional delegation to step up to climate leadership with 3 clear actions. We are seeking input on whether a resolution like this is a good idea, to seek help on improving it and circulating it.
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS The UN Interdepartmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded that Human Caused
Climate Change poses a clear and existential threat to humans and land and marine life forms and that energy, agricultural and transportation sectors must be fully decarbonized in 11 years to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 deg C to avoid global catastrophic consequences; at the same time, the fossil fuel industry has known about and deliberately concealed information and misinformed the public about the science and impacts from the burning fossil fuels and have spent billions of dollars to fund climate denier campaigns and block policies that advance climate solutions;
WHEREAS The US is experiencing an unprecedented level of economic inequality, inadequate employment, wages and benefits, threats to food and water safety, lack of healthcare and affordable housing and environmental damages — all of which impact low income, indigenous and communities of color more significantly, and there is an urgent need to transition to an economy that works for all;
WHEREAS Only the proposed Green New Deal initiative proposes a fair and just transition to a green, sustainable and renewable energy economy at the scale of the crisis; creates and guarantees good paying jobs; requires that the transition be led by the people who are at maximum peril from these threats; and can achieve the rapid, fair, and ethical transition of the United States to a net zero greenhouse gas emitting economy;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Torrey Pines Democratic Club supports the Green New Deal resolution and the no Fossil Fuel Money Pledge, and calls on the San Diego Congressional delegation to: 1) cosponsor the Green New Deal Resolution; 2) sign the no Fossil Fuel money pledge and commit to refusing political contributions from the fossil fuel industry; and, 3) hold a town hall meeting in their district in San Diego County by the August 2019 recess to dialogue with constituents on climate change.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be sent to the California US Senators and Congressional Representatives to take the actions identified.
San Onofre and Mike levin Town Halls
We have a few opportunities coming up to learn about the San Onofre situation. There are two related town halls planned for August 20th (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) and August 22nd (Congressman Mike Levin, welcoming questions on San Onofre) . Please consider attending both or one of these town halls.
Email Marilee McLean to let her know if you are attending one or both of the town halls.
SAN ONOFRE NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE “UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL”
SoCal Edison resumed partially-burying canisters containing 3.6 million pounds of highly radioactive nuclear waste at San Onofre, just 108 ft. away from our Ocean! These thin- walled canisters can’t be inspected or maintained and each of them contains the radioactivity of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. They are corroded by salt air and damaged during loading, potentially leading to hazardous radioactive leaks that endanger the lives of 8.4 million Southern Californians.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Town Hall
Tuesday, Aug 20, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
25925 Camino Del Avion (San Juan Capistrano Community Center)
Meet with NRC staff: ask questions, offer comments.
Get an update on fuel-loading operations resumed last month.
Congressman Mike Levin Town Hall
Thursday, Aug 22, 5:30pm – 7:00pm
1050 Camino Del Mar (Del Mar City Hall)
Mike Levin has many nuclear experts and elected officials on his San Onofre task force. He welcomes your questions about San Onofre.
RSVP HERE: https://tinyurl.com/LevinAugTH
Visit www.rsfdem.org or www.sanonofresafety.org for more information.
NUCLEAR WASTE DRY STORAGE RECOMMENDATIONS
- Stop loading more nuclear fuel waste in thin-wall cracking canisters.
- Require proven thick-wall transportable storage casks. Most of the world uses thick-wall casks 10” to 19.75” thick. Canisters at San Onofre are only 5/8” thick and lack critical safety features. Thin-wall canisters must be stored in thick concrete or metal overpacks to stop gamma and neutron radiation. The storage overpacks have air vents for cooling, so our only protection from major radioactive releases is the 5/8” thin canister wall. Thick-wall metal casks are designed for both storage and transport. The Fukushima thick-wall transportable casks survived the 2011 tsunami and 9.0 earthquake. Partially cracked thin-wall canisters have no seismic earthquake rating.
- Require casks that can be maintained and monitored inside and out. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission admits, once cracks start in thin-wall stainless steel welded canisters, they can continue to grow through the wall in only 16 years. The walls of the new Holtec canisters are already scraped and gouged. Only thick-wall casks and their contents can be maintained and monitored to prevent radioactive releases and to ensure cask and contents are safe for transport.
- Require ASME N3 Nuclear Pressure Vessel Certification. The NRC approves exemptions to ASME and NRC critical safety requirements in order to approve these unsafe thin-wall pressure vessels. For example, thin-wall canisters have no pressure monitors or pressure relief valves. Gases can build up inside the canister from residual water remaining after drying the canisters, risking hydrogen gas explosions. The San Onofre Holtec and NUHOMS containers cannot meet ASME N3 Nuclear Pressure Vessel certification. Thick-wall casks can meet ASME N3 requirements.
- Require on-line radiation data to the public. The NRC refuses to share radiation levels from the aging NUHOMS outlet air vents. This is where levels are highest from cracking canisters.
- Store thick-wall casks in buildings away from flooding and coastal hazards. Other countries store thick-wall casks in buildings for additional environmental and security protection. Until a better location is found for this waste, California must have the best proven technology.
- Require replacement plan for failing storage containers. Both of SoCal Edison’s Independent Spent Fuel Storage Facility (ISFSI) licenses require that canisters can be unloaded back into the spent fuel pools. Both former and current San Onofre Chief Nuclear Officers (Tom Palmisano and Doug Bouder, respectively) admitted at San Onofre Engagement Panel meetings that fuel cannot be returned back into the pools. They said fuel is loaded too hot into the Holtec canisters — 200 to 300 degrees Celsius (392 to 572 degrees Fahrenheit). Edison plans to use the over $4.3 billion in the ratepayer San Onofre Decommissioning Trust Fund to destroy the spent fuel pools and other buildings. This eliminates the only on-site method to unload and replace the cooler canisters. The only other method to replace containers is in a dry fuel handling facility (hot cell). Edison refuses to build one. There are no longer any hot cells in the country large enough to do this.
- Deny Coastal permit to destroy spent fuel pools. The Coastal Commission should deny Coastal Permit for San Onofre Decommissioning. A Coastal Commission meeting and decision on this issue is tentatively scheduled for September 11, 12th or 13th, Newport Beach Civic Center, Council Chambers, 100 Civic Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660. Staff report is tentatively scheduled for August 23, 2019.
- Freeze and redirect decommissioning funds. The CA Public Utilities Commission should freeze the over $4.3 billion decommissioning funds until the above requirements are met. They should approve use of some of these funds to implement the above recommendations. The CPUC approved the Edison San Onofre Decommission Plan based on false assumptions nothing would go wrong with the dry storage system.
- Support only nuclear waste legislation that meets monitored retrievable fuel storage and transport requirements. Proposed federal legislation that promises to transport waste to another state or to expedite fuel out of the pools into dry storage, ignore or eliminate critical storage and transport safety requirements in current law (Nuclear Waste Policy Act).