San Diego Coastkeeper

Government Accountability

• Coastkeeper 2006 Voting Guide
• City of San Diego
• Political Advocacy

Yes on Proposition 84 (The Clean Water, Parks and Coastal Protection Act)

Proposition 84 is a $5.4 billion citizen initiative placed on the ballot through the efforts of conservation groups to ensure that our natural resources aren't ignored by Sacramento. Prop. 84 is critically needed as:

• More than 60% of California's rivers and streams fail to meet federal Clean Water Act standards.
• California's beaches had more than 5,000 closures and health warnings in 2005 alone.
• Yes, only 1% of California’s state budget is dedicated to environmental protection, meaning our beaches, state parks and even drinking water supply have been chronically neglected and desperately need funding to ensure that future generations will be able to appreciate our natural heritage.

Through Prop 84, San Diego will receive more than $100 million dollars directly for protection of San Diego Bay and its watersheds and for integrated water management efforts, and we will be eligible for additional funding on a competitive basis. For detailed information on benefits to San Diego, click here

Join San Diego Coastkeeper, State Senators Denise Moreno Ducheny and Christine Kehoe, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Councilman Benjamin Hueso, the San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego County Water Authority, San Diego Taxpayers’ Association and San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce in supporting Proposition 84.


Yes on Proposition 87

Clean water & clean energy are inextricably linked. Energy production has now passed agriculture as the largest water user the United States, killing trillions of fish, shellfish, plankton and other species at all life stages in cooling water intakes. San Diego’s three once-through-cooling (OTC) power plants (South Bay, Encina & San Onofre) are permitted to use over three billion gallons of water daily, and San Onofre, alone, has destroyed almost 10% of the remaining kelp forests along California’s coast causing an estimated 80% decline in the area’s kelp fish populations. Polluting power plants also discharge mercury, copper and other toxins into California’s waters.

And while many associate dirty transportation choices with poor air quality, fewer recognize that aerial deposition brings much of the 190 million tons of pollution is pumped into California’s air every year by gasoline & diesel cars, trucks and buses to our waterways.

Proposition 87 would create a $4 billion fund to invest in renewable energy supplies. This could be a crucial step in moving to an energy-sustainable economy, and make California a world leader in renewable technologies. The money comes from a tax on oil production, and oil companies would be prohibited by law from passing the cost on to consumers.

Proposition 87 is supported by former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the American Lung Association of California and the Coalition for Clean Air.


No on Proposition 90

Proposition 90 is a deceptive and far-reaching measure that will undermine the authority of local communities and local voters to enact basic laws—including environmental protections. Proponents are trying to sell Prop. 90 as eminent domain reform, but hidden in the fine print of the November 7th measure are extreme provisions that would erode our ability to pass laws to:

• Protect natural resources, wildlife and habitat
• Ensure water quality and adequate water supplies
• Regulate growth and development.

Prop 90 would empower people to sue the government and collect compensation if they feel their properties or businesses have been compromised anytime our government wants to protect open space or save an old growth forest or restrict offshore oil drilling. If Prop 90 is enacted, environmental protection will grind to a halt, because we the taxpayers will be unable to afford the billions and billions in payouts.

Prop 90 poses one of the gravest threats that has ever been leveled at California’s environment. As such, it is not surprising that it is being opposed by virtually every major environmental group, including California League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, Audubon California, The Ocean Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club California, Defenders of Wildlife, Environmental Defense and many others.

Prop 90 is also being opposed by local governments, taxpayer associations and business interests. In their August 22 Editorial, The San Diego Union Tribune stated that Prop 90 is a ‘radical overreach that would create vastly more problems than it would correct.’, and a recent article raised other concerns about this ballot measure.