Category: Environment

June Recap & July Happenings

by cynmrom, posted in Environment, Events, Huddle Meetings, Local Elections, YouTube Videos

Were you there?

Our screening of the documentary The Anthropologist, drew about 50 enthusiastic supporters to our HB Huddle on Saturday, June 30 at Carden Conservatory Elementary School.

It was a great feast of potluck delicacies and engaging conversations with kindred spirits. HB Huddle local elections team leader, Brendon Perkins, challenged us to step out of our comfort zone explaining that to win this next election – that’s what we all need to consider.

“What makes you feel just a little uncomfortable?”

In his case he shared his journey overcoming a fear of public speaking in order to run for office.

 

“Activism pays off, the results pay off.” -Josh Lowenthal, Candidate for 72nd State Assembly District

Josh Lowenthal, a candidate for the 72nd State Assembly District, reminded us that when we speak from our hearts and from the values we hold as humans, we don’t create more divides, we might actually build alliances.

74th State Assembly Candidate Cottie Petrie-Norris challenged Huddle members to take election day off work in order to volunteer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Candidates Tom Umberg, Cottie Petrie-Norris and Duke Nguyen were also present, thanked supporters, and shared their excitement around not only moving OC slowly from red to blue, but also doing so because of basic shared human values.

The movie served to remind us that when we seek to understand other cultures and other perspectives, we learn.

We can all be anthropologists in our own backyards, observing and trying to understand one another instead of judging. Only then can we find where we all share common ground and start a new, fresh and peaceful conversation.

Thank you to all who attended!

July Happenings…

The HB Huddle is going dark in July, which means will not be meeting at Carden on the third Saturday of the month, but this doesn’t mean that we’ll stop taking action!

On Wednesday July 18, 2018, several HB Huddle environment team and steering team members will be speaking out at the Orange County Water District meeting. The agency will consider approving the term sheet for the Poseidon desalination project and several members will voice their concerns.

Here is a quick video from California Desalination Facts, which details some of the concerns:

Even if you can’t make the meeting it is still important to speak out. Please email oceandesalexploration@ocwd.com and voice your concerns before the meeting.

You can also use this form from OCWD to state your opposition.

 

 

April City Council Meeting Recap

by cynmrom, posted in #NoBanNoWall, Environment, Events, Huddle Meetings, Informative, Local Elections, Uncategorized
This week City Council members Mike Posey and Erik Peterson used their non-partisan offices to seek national political attention, when they led the council to a 6-1 vote to have the City Attorney file a lawsuit, and work with other municipalities, to challenge SB-54 the “Sanctuary State” bill. Read the full Daily Pilot article here.
BUT the council also voted to extend the organic turf management pilot program in Central Park. This is the next step towards making our public spaces free of toxins by using holistic turf management methods instead of chemicals. 
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City Council meeting videos are part of the public domain. Here is a clip of four community members speaking out. You can also watch the full video on the City of Huntington Beach website (if you have trouble viewing the video on the city website try using Chrome as your browser). Council Members responses take place around 4 hours and 25 minutes into the video.

 

“I’ve been coming to these meeting throughout my life, and I am repeatedly told that we have limited resources and limited funds…I’m appalled, as a tax payer, that you want to take my tax dollars to litigate something that is already being litigated at a much higher level.”

-Cathey R., HB resident since 1985

 

 

 

“I understand the concerns of some members of the community about the impact SB 54 may have on crime and legality of the of the law. However, repeated academic studies have shown that having immigrants – both documented and undocumented – actually DECREASES crime in a community. I work as a data analyst and have a Masters from Oxford University with an emphasis in statistics, so I know data. Recent academic studies have shown that being a sanctuary county has positive impacts on communities. In addition to increased economic benefits, there are, on average, 35.5 fewer crimes committed per 10,000 people in sanctuary counties compared to nonsanctuary counties. This is largely due to the fact that there is increased trust between immigrants and law enforcement, so they are more likely to report crime and cooperate in investigations.”

-Aubrey R., HB Huddle #NoBanNoWall Team (here’s a link to her sources)

 

“I think there are more of us who are compassionate, who think and who will vote, then there are the hateful ones….be weary of how you vote tonight because your political futures definitely depend on it.”

-Bill M., Orange County resident

 

 

 

 

 

“Our country is so tribal right now, you can feel it in the room, there’s so much fear and there’s so much divisiveness and it’s sad to see city officials wanting to stir that up in their hometown… I hope we can get away from that in the future…”

-Cynthia R., 3rd generation Huntington Beach resident

 

 

 

Here are some key numbers:
-1 City Council Member, Jill Hardy (D), opposed the lawsuit
-$53,000: the estimated cost of continuing the turf management pilot program in Central park, which was approved 7-0.
-70+ postcards delivered to City Officials thanks to the HB Huddle Environment Team
-30+ Huddlers and local activists: the approximate number of folks present at Council Chambers on Monday
-13 Huddlers stayed in Council Chambers after 10:00 PM for the Toxic Free HB agenda item
-6+ hours: the amount of hours Huddlers spent in council chambers

Climate Cheat Sheet

by cynmrom, posted in Environment

Here is the Climate Cheat Sheet that Dr. Treseder handed out at our May Meeting…

Here’s the PDF: Climate_change_CA48_v4_full

Climate_change_CA48_v4_full-page-001Climate_change_CA48_v4_full-page-002

More about our speaker:

Dr. Kathleen K. Treseder studies ecosystems that are endangered by climate change, including Alaskan forests, Costa Rican cloud forests, and Californian shrublands. She is a Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California Irvine. She received her PhD from Stanford University and was recently elected a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. She has authored 91 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals. Her research has been covered by the New York Times, NPR, and Discover Magazine.