San Diego

A Breath Of Fresh Air In San Diego Port Community

August 13, 2024 Roberto Camacho, Next City. Organize! California, Environment, pollution, San Diego

For decades, San Diego’s port communities like Barrio Logan and National City have been plagued with unhealthy air quality. Residents of communities bordering the 34 miles of coastline encompassed by the Port of San Diego face a barrage of toxic pollutants and other hazardous conditions from industrial shipyards, intersecting neighborhood freeways, and even the U.S. Navy. They believe these hazardous conditions would never be tolerated in San Diego’s more affluent areas. The fight for clean air has been a long, uphill battle for these working-class, historically Mexican-American and immigrant communities.

San Diego Ponders A Bid To Take Over Its For-Profit Energy Utility

June 26, 2024 Akielly Hu, Next City. Organize! California, Energy, public power, San Diego

Activists pushing San Diego to take over the city’s investor-owned utility aren’t letting last year’s defeat of a similar effort in Maine deter their goal of establishing a nonprofit power company. They recently submitted petitions bearing more than 30,000 signatures from residents who want the City Council to let voters decide the matter this fall. Advocates say a municipal takeover of San Diego Gas & Electric would deliver cheaper rates and a faster, more affordable, and more equitable transition to clean energy. Still, the measure faces long odds from skeptical council members who have twice rejected similar proposals.

How San Diego Built A Surveillance Apparatus

October 11, 2023 Jesse Marx, In These Times. Resist! California, Mass Surveillance, Police, San Diego, Surveillance, Sustainability

San Diego. California - It sounded smart on paper. In 2016, the San Diego City Council created a new infrastructure project related to its environmental initiatives: Thousands of streetlights would be retrofitted with energy-efficient LEDs. Plus, remote-controlled sensors would produce publicly accessible data on weather, traffic and parking. Considering the energy savings, the $30 million partnership with General Electric would pay for itself. Win-win. But today, the project is an example of how not to create “smart” city utilities. Those sensors included integrated cameras, and no councilmember formally opposed the potential surveillance issues. Most San Diego residents only learned they were filmed indiscriminately thanks to media reports — in 2019.

San Diego Has Been Turned Into A Massive Chinese-Style Public Surveillance Network

March 16, 2019 Staff, Massprivatei.blogspot.com Educate! San Diego, Surveillance

Can you imagine a city in the United States secretly creating a Chinese-style public surveillance network that can identify everyone? Can you imagine that same city secretly creating a Chinese-style public watchlisting network? Well imagine no more because it has already happened. When I wrote about "covert facial recognition streetlights coming to a city near you" last year, I never would have dreamt that my article would become a reality so quickly.

US Arrests 32 At San Diego Border Demonstration

December 11, 2018 Gregory Bull, Star-telegram.com Resist! Border, Caravan, Immigration, Protesters Arrested, San Diego, Undocumented

U.S. authorities arrested 32 people at a demonstration Monday that was organized by a Quaker group on the border with Mexico, authorities said. Demonstrators were calling for an end to detaining and deporting immigrants and showing support for migrants in a caravan of Central American asylum seekers. A photographer for The Associated Press saw about a dozen people being handcuffed after they were told by agents to back away from a wall that the Border Patrol calls "an enforcement zone." The American Friends Service Committee, which organized the demonstration, said 30 people were stopped by agents in riot gear and taken into custody while they tried to move forward to offer a ceremonial blessing near the wall.

Striking XPO Port Truck Drivers Rally In Los Angeles, San Diego

October 4, 2018 Staff, Teamster.org Resist! Abuse, Los Angeles, San Diego, Workers, Workers Rights and Jobs

(CALIFORNIA) – Port truck drivers for XPO Logistics Inc. who are on strike held rallies in Los Angeles and San Diego and demanded the company end the rampant day-to-day abuse of drivers. The actions come on the heels of a breaking victory as the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement recognized a striking driver as in fact employed by XPO and determined the company owes him $123,074.43 in back pay. Hundreds of port truck drivers from XPO, as well as NFI Industries, walked off the job on Monday. XPO Logistics is a $15 billion company which moves products for Amazon.com Inc., Toyota Motor Corp., Puma and other major brands around the world. The drivers say that they are improperly labeled “independent contractors” since they cannot drive for any other company but XPO.

San Diego Activists Go All In For Anti-Alec Protests

July 21, 2015 Doug Porter, www.sandiegofreepress.org Resist! ALEC, California, Conservative, Protest, San Diego

By Doug Porter in San Diego Free Press - A wide range of organizations, some of whom rarely get involved in non-electoral politics, are calling upon San Diegans to put on their protesting shoes during the upcoming annual meeting of the American Legislative Council (ALEC). Protests, press conferences, teach-ins, rallies and guerrilla theater will be happening throughout the coming week commencing on Tuesday, July 21st as ALEC delegates are checking in. Buses will coming in from the Los Angeles/Long Beach areas on Wednesday for what organizers expect will be the largest events of the week. Today’s column will focus on the already-announced activities (there are more coming, I’m told). On Friday, I focused on the line up of speakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Scott Walker and former Gov.Mike Huckabee, along with San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.

San Diego Sues Monsanto For Dumping PCB’s In Bay

March 18, 2015 Dorian Hargrove, www.sandiegoreader.com Resist! Contamination, Environment, Law, Monsanto, San Diego

The City of San Diego and San Diego Unified Port District want chemical agricultural giant Monsanto to pay for its role in polluting San Diego's bay and tidelands with polychlorinated biphenyls, commonly known as PCBs. On March 16, the municipal agencies sued Monsanto for concealing the hazards associated with PCBs, despite being aware of the health risks associated with ingesting and inhaling the chemical compounds since the 1930s. According to the lawsuit, the risks did not deter Monsanto from trying to protect profits and prolong the use of PCB compounds such as Aroclor, as shown in a report from an ad hoc committee that Monsanto formed in 1969.

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