Every month, Gianna Patchen, our Chapter Coordinator, and Andrew Christie, a member of the chapter’s Conservation Committee and Chapter Director from 2004-2023, publish an opinion column in New Times. Here are summaries, with links to their most recent articles.
Lawmakers must get real answers about Diablo Canyon
Published in New Times on September 11, 2025
The September installment focuses on an August 19 state senate hearing on the extension of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant’s operating life. Members of the Senate Energy Committee almost but not quite got answers to questions centered on whether we really need the energy that Diablo Canyon generates despite the state’s massive gains in renewable energy over the last five years, and can we afford what it will cost? And what exactly is that cost?
The Lopez solution
Published in New Times on October 9, 2025
The October installment reviews the progress of litigation seeking to compel SLO County to release enough water from Lopez Dam to protect the steelhead in Arroyo Grande Creek. The County has complied with a court order to complete a Habitat Conservation Plan. If the County would now commit to implementing that plan instead of continuing to litigate, it could settle the lawsuit, comply with the Endangered Species Act, and redirect limited public funds away from litigation and toward solving the environmental and water supply challenges of local communities.