Tag archives: Climate change
Sustainable landscaping doyenne Susan Van Atta is healing the local ecosystem one acre at a time… It was Susan Van Atta’s birthday just after the presidential inauguration and she wanted to spend it quietly riding her bike on a nostalgic tour through “her” Carpinteria. She set off along the paths of the Salt Marsh Reserve (she helped designed […]
Climate change and the threat it poses to humans has been well publicized. But we hear less about its effects on the multitude of other species on the planet. Amanda Sparkman, chair of the Westmont Biology Department, explores “A Snake in the Spring Rain: How Biodiversity is Responding to a Changing Climate” on Thursday, February […]
November 4 was an incredibly important day. Not just because a Joe Biden election victory was so uncertain and the tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife, but also because it was the day the USA formally ended its participation in the Paris Climate Accords. This marked the end of […]
Residents in California have been waking up to apocalyptic orange skies caused by wildfires across the state. For a Thought Leader Series, we share a ProPublica article that dives deeper into solutions for reducing the severity of what many are now calling “megafires.” Tim Ingalsbee is a previous wildland firefighter who is frustrated with the […]
The devastating Paradise Fire of 2018 was caused by sparking from Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E’s) high-voltage transmission lines that run through all sorts of back country and forests in Northern California. Unfortunately, that tragedy is but one of dozens of fires started from high-voltage transmission lines which, by definition, often run through forests and […]
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was interviewed last Wednesday on CBS by Stephen Colbert and she made this provocative observation: “Mother Earth is having a fit.” It was her way of saying that the climate crisis is real, and it’s here now. Let’s put some substance to that claim. We were all mesmerized as Hurricane Laura […]
The triple threat we face could make our country stronger than ever You’ve heard the old saying “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” No question, we are ensnared in a crisis, within a crisis, within a crisis. We have the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic with 180,000 dead in the United States as […]
Mike Nichols’ 1967 iconic and classic film, for which he received the Best Director Award among four other Academy Awards, was The Graduate. The film is a masterful exploration of the malaise of college graduation at a time of great social turmoil. A promotional poster captured the tension brilliantly: “This is Benjamin. He’s a little […]
Montecito actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ battle against breast cancer inspired her commitment to fight climate change. The Seinfeld co-star, 59, says her “near death experience” made her think about the impact she wanted to make on the world. “Once you’ve faced a near-death experience like that you do begin to realize that at some point you’re […]
For the first time in memory, there is momentum in California to usher in the clean, decentralized energy future that a growing number of Californians believe is necessary to combat climate change and improve community resiliency. It begins with reimagining how electric utilities conduct business. After the 2019 fire season, Public Safety Power Shutoffs resulted […]
Kudos to Kriegman The article written by Mitchell Kriegman for your March 5, 2020 issue on a new vision for downtown Santa Barbara was amazing! The in-depth background, pictures of the conceptual drawings, and relevant interviews with stakeholders all combined to well-inform the reader. Thank you for not letting the hard work that was done […]
This political season feels tedious and interminable. Like watching Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar acceptance speech on a continuous loop. Set to elevator music. And then the elevator gets stuck. Unfortunately, for many of the races that matter to us, we still have eight months to go till November – eight months of promises, sniping, wooing, and […]
At a roundtable discussion on Tuesday morning, held on the patio of Jeannine’s Bakery on Coast Village Road, First District Supervisor candidate Laura Capps outlined her Climate Safety Plan, which she intends to implement if she is elected to the Board of Supervisors. Surrounded by a group of highly involved Montecito citizens and stakeholders, Capps […]
It has been more than 25 years since the formal adoption of the Montecito Community Plan, crafted by concerned citizens, who were charged with protecting and preserving the special, small town, semi-rural residential character of our community. Back in 1995, semi-rural meant the lack of sidewalks and traffic lights, narrow winding roads, subtle road signage, […]
Inaugural Event a Success Congratulations to the Montecito Journal on a very successful and well attended 1st District Supervisor Debate. The evening was informative, professional, well organized, and even had some humor sprinkled in. Although free to those of us in the audience, I’m confident that even with the support from the Montecito Association, the […]
It was standing room only on Monday, January 27, at Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall for the Montecito Journal Media Group’s inaugural event: the First District Supervisor Debate. Incumbent Das Williams and challenger Laura Capps faced off to answer several questions formulated by MJ CEO Gwyn Lurie and KCRW host and reporter Jonathan […]
Puppy Love I want to clarify any confusion the “Lutah” article may have generated by confirming that my dear border collie siblings, Alamo, Creek and Ranch, who were named after the ranch I own, no longer live with me. It is true that I have been denied all access to the babies that I raised […]
In Defense of New Sanitary District Building The need for staff showers at the Montecito Sanitary District wastewater treatment plant should be obvious. Staff are working with pathogen-loaded water that also contains antibiotic resistant microbes and their genes. This is biologically loaded pathogenic material (liquid and solids) capable of transferring pathogens to staff, their homes, […]
Q. One of the biggest challenges I face as a member of the Santa Barbara community is what to do about climate change. Can you help? – Greg in Goleta A. Thank you for your question, Greg. I went to John Steed for an answer. He is the President of the Board of the Community […]
To La Cocina, formerly Somerset, with my snapperazzi Priscilla, to check out the made-over East Anapamu Street eatery, which now features Mexican-Californian cuisine. The charming back courtyard, filled with lavender bushes and gnarled ancient fig trees brought in by flatbed trucks from Northern California and craned in over the rooftops when it first opened after […]
