Happy May! This month, we give an update on the Power San Diego campaign and the ongoing efforts of our Transportation Team. From collect thousands of signatures to spearheading transformative transportation solutions, we’re committed to creating a greener, brighter future for San Diego. Also, meet our new Youth Program Coordinator, McGarrah Wilson, and read about our youth climate action work in Chula Vista!

Check out our member of the month Chris Roberts, co-lead of the Transportation Team, as he shares about his climate activism.

Want to get involved? Scroll to the end to find our upcoming events!

On Tuesday May 14, the Power San Diego Campaign turned in over 30,000 signatures to the city. THANK YOU to all the volunteers and supporters who dedicated their time and energy into this campaign. The strides we made are significant and we’ll keep fighting for our future.

Although we did not pass the 80,000 signature requirement to qualify, we had enough to trigger a full hearing of the San Diego City Council.

• What this campaign accomplished
  • Raised awareness of SDG&E’s profit motive causing unaffordable rates and their role in blocking rooftop solar and climate action 
  • Built a base of people (petitioners, volunteers and other contacts)
  • Put SDG&E and Sempra on defense
• What’s next
  • We are committed to keeping the pressure on SDG&E and local and state government to accelerate renewable energy, electrification and climate action and achieve energy democracy and affordability. 
  • Check out the Raise the Alarm team, working on the Sempra Fracks our Future Campaign - directly protesting Sempra’s harmful activity. 

Our Transportation Team is working on SO much this year - so we wanted to give you a little insight into their work! The Transportation Team accelerates the transition to an equitable, fully connected, multimodal, zero emission transportation system in the San Diego region.

The Transportation Team is currently working on:

• Let’s Go! San Diego ballot initiative: Generate voter and elected officials support for the November 2024 ballot measure.
• Develop presentation materials that individuals can use to present to community organizations.
• Organize the upcoming June 8 kick-off event for Let’s Go! San Diego.
• Microtransit: Accelerate adoption of microtransit (Neighborhood Electric Vehicles) initiatives by cities and transit agencies in the region.
• Work with SANDAG to 1) define the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) data, including demographic data, that need to be collected from multiple on-going microtransit pilot studies; 2) give input to the design of SANDAG’s “Flexible Fleets Dashboard”; and 3) making sure that the data in the Flexible Fleets Dashboard is accessible.
• Data analysis platform: Recruited graduate student volunteers from UCSD’s Data Science masters program to work with the team to develop a geographic information system (GIS) platform to identify locations in underserved communities for deployment of new microtransit systems.
• Public outreach: Table and attend events to meet with transit leaders involved with establishing microtransit systems in their communities.
• SANDAG outreach: Make public comments at SANDAG's public meetings to advocate for the Ten Transit Lifelines and a 25% reduction in VMTs in the 2025 Regional Plan. 

GET INVOLVED:

• Register to attend the Let's Go! Campaign kick-off on Saturday, June 8th.
• Join the Transportation Team (fill out the volunteer interest form)

WHEN: Saturday, May 25, 2024 @ 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm
WHERE: KIPP Adelante School Prep Academy 426 Euclid Avenue KIPP Adelante San Diego, California 92114

WHEN: Saturday, June 1, 2024 @ 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
WHERE: University Christian Church 3900 Cleveland Ave San Diego, California 92103

WHEN: Saturday, June 8, 2024 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
WHERE: Imperial Beach, California

Join labor, social justice, and environmental organizations to officially launch the Let’s Go! San Diego campaign to fund transit solutions county-wide! 

WHEN: Saturday, June 8, 2024 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
WHERE: 3299 Tidelands Ave. National City, California 91950

WHEN: Thursday, June 13, 2024 @ 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
WHERE: Valencia Park - Malcolm X Library 5148 Market Street. San Diego, California 92114

Join our interactive workshop and meet neighbors, help shape climate solutions in your community, provide input to San Diego County, and celebrate our progress. 

• Group fails to collect required signatures for SDG&E ballot Measure but has another plan (San Diego Union Tribune) 
• Climate activist demonstrate outside Sempra Energy headquarters in Downtown San Diego (CBS8)
• Protesters 'disrupt; Sempra headquarters over climate crisis (KPBS)
• Homeowners struggle to find insurance as major companies pull coverage in several states: 'We're marching toward an uninsurable future' (The Cool Down)
• Column: Exxon Mobil is suing its shareholders to silence them about global warming (LA Times)
• ‘Hopeless and broken’: why the world’s top climate scientists are in despair (The Guardian)