Bill Gates and the Democratic Party Throw Climate Action Under the Bus By Jim Miller, The Jumping-Off Place & SD350 Board Member Article by The Jumping Off Place From San Diego where Mayor Gloria has ousted the city’s climate and sustainability leader and California where Governor Newsom and the Democrats are tossing their role as climate leaders into the dustbin of history and reembracing the fossil fuel industry, to the national level where the party has summarily abandoned all climate talk, doomerism is definitively out. And why not, when our dear friend Bill Gates has given us the good news in a memo he crafted just in time for COP30

By Brad Barham, SanDiego350 member My September blog, “Western Wildfires, Climate Change, Insurance, Housing, and Inequality”, explored how rising wildfire risk associated with climate change is negatively affecting the housing market. It raises insurance costs, shrinks housing supply, and pushes rents and house sale prices higher and higher. Similar effects occur in other parts of the US where hurricanes, flooding, and other climate-driven shocks also increasingly damage the housing stock. The big picture concern is this: negative supply shocks driven by climate change are exacerbating a longstanding affordability crisis in US housing markets.  The cost of adequate housing has become

By Sofia Carrasco, Youth v. Oil Intern Article published in Cal Matters The health and safety of millions of Californians is in jeopardy thanks to a law that bypassed nearly the entire legislative process — bargained and brought to you by Big Oil.  The law, Senate Bill 237, was introduced and passed in a hurried 72-hour session. This is the legal minimum amount of time a bill must exist before it passes. By avoiding input from key stakeholders, Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democrats are participating in a concerning trend, one which allows industries to lobby and manipulate their way into backdoor deals.  The California’s Democratic leadership is revoking hard-earned

 By Elizabeth Nguyen, Oceanside Youth Coordinator I’m excited to be joining the SanDiego350 community as the Oceanside Youth Coordinator. I am a first generation Vietnamese American born and raised in San Diego, CA. I enjoyed being outside, and I discovered my passion for marine conservation in high school as a volunteer at the Birch Aquarium. I loved learning about our oceans and sharing with others about how we can protect it from human impacts and the effects of climate change. I studied marine biology at the University of California, San Diego, where I also joined the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

By Katharine Harrison, Legislative Team Lead We vote for state legislators that we believe will promote our well-being as Californians and hope that the legislative process is open and fair enough that we can trust them. However, this is not always the case. Even with a Democratic supermajority, small d democracy has been dealt a bad hand this summer. This session witnessed a great deal of closed-door negotiation that bypassed regular law-making and introduced legislation at the eleventh hour. Seasoned activists and lobbyists, much less the everyday citizen, had little opportunity to push back. Certainly, this has happened before, but

By Huxley Sidari (he/him/his), Youth volunteer with Youth v. Oil The ongoing sewage crisis in the Tijuana River is no new issue to San Diegans and residents of Tijuana alike. The river has been dumping untreated sewage directly into the Pacific Ocean for decades, resulting in the closure of beaches in cities like Imperial Beach and Coronado, damaged ecosystems, and a threat to public health. The history of the decades-long river sewage crisis dates back to the mid-20th century, when Tijuana’s population experienced rapid growth, outpacing its sewage infrastructure. Two separate treatment plants on the border were established in the

By Kyla Guerrero, HR & Operations Coordinator I’m excited to be joining SanDiego350 as the new HR & Operations Coordinator! This role feels like a natural step in both my professional and personal journey, combining my love for building strong organizations with my commitment to collective action for a more just and sustainable world. Originally from the Philippines, I grew up in Chula Vista and later planted roots in Baltimore, Maryland and Whidbey Island, Washington. Living in these diverse communities shaped my worldview and strengthened my belief that healthy environments and thriving communities go hand in hand. Wherever I’ve lived,

By Parke Troutman, Utility Campaign Manager Joining SanDiego350 as staff is a dream job for me: by the time I left the County Public Health Service at the end of 2021, I had long known that I wanted to work on climate change. A friend introduced me to the SD350 Leg Team. I would ultimately become a volunteer co-chair before I had to step down to take a full-time position at an allied organization (Mid-City CAN where I worked on youth justice, cannabis revenue and the Youth Opportunity Pass). I’m very much a political animal. My first action was attending

By Brad Barham, SD350 Member In California, the swings of climate change (more frequent droughts, floods, and extreme heat days) are accelerating the frequency and severity of wildfires.  15 of the 20 largest wildfires in California history have occurred since 2000, with 10 of California’s most costly and destructive fires to life and property happening after 2015.  The Palisades and Eaton fires of 2025, among the largest in US history, resulted in total economic losses of ~$52.5 billion, with more than 10,000 homes destroyed.   California is not alone. Wildfire risk associated with climate change is a serious problem across the

By Gary Butterfield, Previous President of San Diego Veterans For Peace Who is the world’s single largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels and emitter of greenhouse gases?  It may come as a surprise to many of you, but the answer is the US military. In fact, if the Department of Defense were a country, it would rank 47th (out of 170) on the world’s ranking of carbon dioxide polluting countries, between Peru and Portugal. The U.S. Air Force holds the dubious distinction of being the world’s largest user of jet fuel. For example, each Thunderbird (or Blue Angels) team that

By Huxley Sidari (he/him/his), Youth volunteer with Youth v. Oil The history of youth and student-led protests in the United States is one of injustice, pendulums, and taking matters into one’s own hands. In the face of adversity and discrimination, youth tend to have the most brutally honest but essential opinions on divisive issues. The current American political landscape is one of unrest. Over the previous decades, there have been rising currents and waves of youth- and student-led walkouts, protests, and secondary actions of civil disobedience in reaction to injustices they view as worth fighting for. According to Syracuse Law

By Diego Sandoval (He/Him), Youth v. Oil Media Team Lead 2024 saw the second-highest number of billion-dollar weather disasters in US history, reaching 27, shyly missing the previous 2023 record of 28. 9 out of the 10 years with the most billion-dollar weather disasters in US history occurred in the last decade, clearly illustrating our trajectory towards an increasingly expensive future. With this trend displayed, the assumed course of action would be to initiate a focused plan to mitigate the impacts of these disasters, allocate appropriate funds for their immediate response, and limit factors contributing to these occurrences. But what

Kelly Rickwa, SanDiego350 Outreach Intern My name is Kelly Rickwa, and I am an Outreach Intern with SanDiego350 for this summer. I am an engineering student heading into my second year of college at Santa Clara University, and I am passionate about climate action and renewable energy. Throughout the past few weeks, I have gotten to dive into the work that SD350 does, learning more about the environmental injustices present in the San Diego community. The topic of utility justice arises often in these discussions, which I have come to understand as work dedicated to implementing equitable, renewable, and affordable

By Jim Miller, The Jumping-Off Place & SD350 Board Member Also published on The Jumping Off Place If the Zohran Mamdani win over Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary was startling national news that has the potential to transform not just New York but the Democratic party, Paloma Aguirre’s victory over Republican John McCann in the San Diego County Board of Supervisor’s race was, if not the opposite, at least seemingly far less dramatic news coming from our sleepy little Southwestern corner of the country. While Mamdani energized young voters, built a new coalition, and drove the

By Jacob Schneider (he/him) Youth v. Oil Federal Policy Lead As America celebrates July 4th, a day to celebrate her liberation from tyranny, she finds herself sinking into oppression once again. A damning piece of legislation, known as the One Big ‘Beautiful’ Bill (OBBB), looms over barbeques and parades as it threatens to unleash its wrath on millions of souls. The bill is the brainchild of Republican President Donald Trump, who has spent his time in office expanding his powers, trampling over the rights of minorities, and destroying the environment. The OBBB, which recently passed in the Senate and the

By Sophia T. (she/her), Editor of Youth4Climate’s Blog Since May 1st, 2022, when SANDAG flipped the switch on the Youth Opportunity Pass pilot, free transit has opened thousands of doors for San Diego’s youth. The Youth Opportunity Pass (YOP) has revolutionized youth access to public transportation in the San Diego area. By providing free rides throughout the North County Transit District (NCTD), the North County COASTER Commuter Rail Service, and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (SDMTS) to youth ages 18 and under, the program has immensely expanded access to school, jobs, healthcare, and other opportunities. But this success story may come

By Rachel Carton, Legislation Team Member As California continues to face the devastating effects of climate change, from wildfires and drought to toxic air and rising sea levels, our state legislature plays a critical role in steering us toward a healthier, more equitable future. Our legislation team has carefully reviewed this year’s landscape, and we’ve identified key bills that either move us closer to our climate justice goals or threaten to set us back. Here’s where we stand and why. Bills We Support AB 1243 and SB 684 – Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025 For too long, fossil

By Bee Mittermiller Public transportation is a critical lifeline for so many to get to work, school, healthcare, recreation, and homes. Every four years, San Diegans have the opportunity to directly influence the direction of development of transportation infrastructure in our region. The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), is currently drafting the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) for 2025, which maps out our transit future for 2050 and beyond.  The SanDiego350 Transportation Team follows and evaluates each iteration of the RTP as it is developed. Given that transportation in San Diego County accounts for 45-48% of greenhouse gas emissions, we

By Susan Orlofsky, UCSD retiree (member of UPTE retiree (CWA_RMC_9119) and AFT 1931 retiree orgs), currently serving as: UPTE delegate to SDICLC; Steering Committee member, Green New Deal at UCSD student organization Greta Thunberg set sail on the Madleen to bring aid to Palestinians starving and dying in Gaza. Before she and her crew were detained and arrested by Israel she said “I fight for climate justice for the same reason I fight for social justice; it’s the same struggle.  Like Greta I view the fight for workers’ rights and climate justice as the same struggle. I became a union