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.
Don’t let Diablo Canyon jump the guardrails
Published in New Times on February 26, 2026
The March installment reported the story of how state agencies just got caught trying to re-write the seismic safety report of Diablo’s Independent Peer Review Panel, and asked three questions: How much will extending Diablo’s life really cost California taxpayers and ratepayers, is Diablo really safe, and do we really need it? Five weeks later, the Tribune’s Editorial Board also decided it’s time to ask those questions.
It’s time to move toward an oil-free future
Published in New Times on March 26, 2026
The April installment marked the moment when the fight to make Sable Offshore Corp. obey environmental law in Santa Barbara became a national issue. The Trump administration declared that Sable can ignore state laws, public safety, and federal court orders and re-start its corroded oil pipeline across Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. California is not taking this lying down, or the administration’s plans to vastly expand offshore drilling and open 850,000 acres of California’s public lands to oil and gas drilling.