On behalf of the Ladera Hope members and our families, we would like to thank you for the support you have already shown in helping to raise awareness about and seek measures to relocate the proposed power plant. This is truly a community effort. We had a tremendous turn-out last Saturday for Ladera Hope’s community outreach event. As a result of our efforts, we believe this community is much more aware of the power plant and the issues it may pose for our community. Thank you to everyone who knocked on doors to help inform neighbors, as well as those who answered the doors and took the time to listen and engage on the issues. We are thrilled to report that we have approximately 650 new members as a result of last Saturday’s effort and made substantial progress on the fundraising front.
Together, we believe that we can bring the issues to light, get information and take strong measures to have this plant built in an alternate location. We recognize that there is an urgent need for safe and reliable energy and we recognize that peaker power plants are an important part of the strategy to ensure we have the energy we need. However, we do not think these plants should be built next to schools, homes and playgrounds. In an article entitled “California pulls out the stops to attract power plants,” by Don Thompson of the Associated Press, Roger Johnson, siting office manager for the California Energy Commission, stated definitively, “[a peaking plant] can’t go in next to a school or hospital.” We agree. Power plants don’t belong in ANYBODY’s backyard.
One thing we heard over and over as we canvassed the community was, “Oh, I thought the power plant was not going in since we filed a lawsuit.” Please understand that this is simply not true. We are very pleased to report that we beat the deadline and filed the lawsuit on the last eligible day. While this seems like a victory bell ringing, it’s actually a starting pistol. We are very much at the beginning of this fight, and yet we feel we have very legitimate concerns and sound legal arguments.
There have been over a hundred volunteers working literally thousands of hours, many of them showing considerable neglect for their own personal and family lives to get us to this point, and the work has just begun. We are a grassroots, homegrown, all volunteer organization, representing the physical and economic health of our community.
This power plant is a problem and we need you to be part of the solution.
Let’s be blunt about the finances… The SDG&E parent company, SEMPRA, is a multi-billion dollar corporation that has already committed $40 million just to build this project. Another million dollars in legal fees won’t have a substantial effect on their overall budget.
We, on the other hand, are a community based organization, collecting $100 to $1,000 at a time. To pose this fight and get the information we need as a community about the impact this power plant will have on our health, our environment and our economic welfare, we must hire environmental consultants and attorneys. These professionals can cost upwards of $400 per hour. The good news is we have some of the best and they’re confident this is a battle worth fighting.
No one can afford to take the attitude of “someone else will take care of this”. YOU ARE THAT SOMEONE.
Please click Donate to link to the donation page on www.laderahope.org and do what you can to make a difference. We now have the option for our supporters to donate by credit card or PayPal as well (you’ll see the DONATE button on the donation page). And remember, of all the donations you will be asked for this year, this is probably one of the few that is for your children’s benefit instead of someone else’s.
Here’s a link to the above-referenced article if you’re interested: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/reports/power/20010329-1522-wst-powerpla.html
Donate now, educate your neighbors and help preserve our community.
Filed under: Ladera Ranch, News | Tagged: environment, Ladera Ranch, pollution
