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Ocean Outfall Group Comments to BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) about Massive Offshore Wind Farm Proposed for Morro Bay:

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'Disruptionado'

I went to a meeting late last night
about an energy idea that was not so bright
Thousands of turbines 700 feet tall
and migrating creatures hated them all
The spin doctors they were there of course
The greedy little bastards were out in force
I left it to others to succumb to seduction
I instead waved a sign and administered disruption
There were several politicians there I recognized
A newly elected with dollar signs in her eyes
And a San Luis Supervisor who wanted seismic testing
"E mail me" he said, but I knew he was jesting
There was Boem* who told me, "we'll be careful not to spoil"
But I reminded them they were in league with big oil
There was the CEC* and the DOD*
And a creepy coastkeeper, my sworn enemy
There was a Harbor Department employee
There to find out 'what's in it for me?'
But the worst of the worst and a slime most vile
Was the Commercial Fishing President, brain of a child
He turned around to see me and he acted rude
"I don't want you behind me!' I answered, "Shut up dude."
I collected cards, I had made some friends
These assaults upon our ocean, well, it never ends
jr


My best question of the night, "From the first time one of these turbines generates electricity, how long until you come back with a 'Turbines-to-Reefs' proposal?"

My official submitted comments:

*Likelihood these turbines will go the way of 'rigs to reefs' 'ships to reefs'
*Migratory birds take enormous evasive action resulting in poor feeding and rest and ultimate extinction
*Project will prolong life of dangerous 'fire wires', which cost billions of dollars in damage (Camp fire alone cost 7 billion so far!)
*Danger to whales, navigational hazard
*Energy not needed; June 2017 Calif. PAID Arizona to take excess electricity to protect infrastructure from damage!
*Home and business rooftop solar is the way to go
*All life on Earth has been solar powered from the beginning. Probably a good reason for that.
*Solar power is free, clean and endless

Joey Racano, Director
Ocean Outfall Group


For more info, join our facebook page: Stop the Morro Bay OffShore Wind Farm
*Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
*California Energy Commission
*Department of Defense


OOG: IF YOU USE THE OCEAN TO DUMP DIRTY SEWAGE, WE ARE YOUR PROBLEM!

And if you want to dump your old warships in the ocean and call them 'artificial reefs' (ships2reefs)  rather than send them back to Texas to be dismantled, we are your problem!

And if you want to dump your old offshore oil rigs in the ocean (rigs2reefs) rather than fulfill your contractual obligation for their removal, we are your problem!

And don't doubt for a moment that we won't stop you from dumping your oversized ceiling fans either!

Have we mentioned our own plan called 'Shopping Carts to Reefs?   :)


Thank You Whales IV was another success and we say thank you to those great people, whales and organizations who made it happen this year!

http://www.ksby.com/story/29791910/thank-you-whales-aims-to-raise-awareness-about-marine-life


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Thank you to all who joined us afterward on Old Port Beach for this year's sunset spiritual gathering, led by Fred Collins, Tribal Administrator for the Coastal Band of Chumash!

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Learn more here or take immediate action on our new PETITION PAGE...(click 'more')

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The Ocean Outfall Group doesn't like plastic in the ocean. But we don't campaign against it. We don't like cigarette butts on the beach, but we leave that battle to someone else. And we absolutely despise plastic bags. Turtles -who naturally eat jellyfish- can eat plastic bags by mistake and get them stuck in their intestinal tract and die. But again, that's not our pet peeve. What the Ocean Outfall Group does, though, is tackle the big, scary issues no one else will touch with a ten foot pole. Issues like SEA WATER DESALINATION, SEISMIC TESTING, NAVY SONAR, POWER PLANT SEA WATER COOLING INTAKES, and even that little handle on your toilet bowl. It sure is easy to flip that lever now, isn't it? Everybody does it. In the immortal words of Mel Brooks, "C'mon, you know you do it. Everybody does it- I just did it, I'm ready to do it again!"

But few ever stop to wonder, what happens to the rather unglamorous contents of that bowl after the lever is flipped. There's a bumper sticker that says, FLUSH HARD, IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE BEACH'. And, unfortunately, that about sums it up.

Not everybody has the time to look into such things and that's where organizations like the Ocean Outfall Group come in. We have a pretty good handle on who dumps what, where, and how much. We also have a good grasp on the level of treatment a municipalities discharge receives before being unceremoniously jettisoned into our precious ocean, mother of our species, provider of all our fish and half the air we breathe. Most folks don't even know we dump our sewage into the ocean, much less that places like San Diego do it using a 'waiver' that allows for extra fecal debris in the discharge! And you might even ask, why do we dump it in the ocean at all? -and you'd have an excellent point! Well, here's to cleaning up our act, not only in California, but nationally and even internationally.

Some of the people who should be taking care of our sea and sea creatures, instead don't act as they should and do bad things. Even people who mean well, can be, well, mean. Listen to this speech below that I made recently to the California Coastal Commission (who we support very strongly!). Sometimes, truth is indeed stranger than fiction...


Below: OOG Director Joey Racano
tells California Coastal Commissioners about Otters being surgically implanted with PG&E electronic devices!

                          Below:  Coalition of activists celebrate Seismic Victory over PG&E

Thank You Sea Shepherd, Oceana, Santa Barbara Sierra Club, San Luis Bay Surfrider, Chumash peoples, Susan Jordan and League for Coastal Protection, Lyndia Leonard and Whale and Dolphin Watch, Gershon Cohen and Great Whale Conservancy, Ocean Defenders Alliance, Oriana Kalama and Ocean Defender Hawaii, Sara and Larry Wan and Western Alliance for Nature, Marcia Hanscomb and Wetlands Action Network, and special thanks to Phil Kline and GREENPEACE USA!

Also, thanks to the following people and agencies: California Fish and Wildlife Commission, California Coastal Commission, California State Resources Agency, and Resource Secretary John Laird, Mellissa Miller-Henson, Ken Wiseman, Sonke Mastrup, and especially, Cat Kuhlman.

And of course, Thank You Whales!  photo below by Dan Bacher:

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Petition Delivered: OOG Director Joey Racano hand delivers a Moveon petition asking the Central Coast Aquarium in Avila California to set a release date for two baby Giant Pacific Octopi caught in a prawn trap in Morro Bay:

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Dedicated to activists the world over- victory for the whales!

Message received from Phil Kline, Senior Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace, USA: “What an unstoppable force captured in a photo, GP, SS, Joey - Congrats on a huge victory! Our oceans and everyone who loves them thank you all and so do I.”


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CA Coastal Commission Denies PG&E Seismic Testing Permit Great Whale Conservancy Applauds California Coastal Commission Decision!

By Gershon Cohen

On November 15th, the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to deny a permit to Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) to conduct seismic testing off the coast of California near the Diablo Canyon and San Onofre nuclear power facilities.

Both facilities were approaching relicensing deadlines, and a recently passed California law requires more analysis of the fault lines located near the remaining plant, both having been built in seismically active areas in the 1970 -1980’s.  While several options exist for conducting the sea-floor mapping analysis, PG&E proposed dragging an array of 18 air canons below the surface and emitting blasts of 250dB every 20 seconds for 42 days. 

The company’s proposal acknowledged there would be hundreds of “takes” of marine mammals during the testing procedure, which would be used to map the fault lines a few miles off-shore from the nuclear facilities.  “Takes,” as described by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, are anything from an annoyance that alters the behavior of the animal to more serious impacts and even death.  Given the size and repetitive nature of the blasts, there was a significant chance that many whales and other marine mammals would have been killed from ruptured eardrums.  They would almost certainly have been driven from the area, which at minimum would have forced them to leave critical feeding areas as winter approaches.  It was also acknowledged by the company that there could be a serious impact on local fish stocks.

A coalition of local citizens who love and respect these magnificent animals, along with fisherman, tourism companies, and civic leaders led by an ad hoc steering group formed by Joey Racano of Avila Beach, (see the Facebook page “stop the diablo canyon seismic testing”) held numerous meetings and actions to get people to write letters and testify in person as the issue was debated by State agencies.  GWC offered to help, and in October we went to Avila Beach with Mz Blue (see photo) to help Joey and his group educate and motivate the public to get involved. 


On November 15th, the California Coastal Commission met to review the application.  With hundreds of people in the room and thousands of letters in hand, the Commission voted unanimously to deny the permit!  It was a remarkable victory over the biggest energy utility corporation in California.

Our sincere thanks to Joey Racano and his team in California and everyone else who participated in this wonderful effort.  Stay tuned to our website www.greatwhaleconservancy.org and Facebook page (greatwhaleconservancy) for updates on this issue, and many other matters of importance regarding the protection of great whales and other marine mammals around the world.

Gershon Cohen PhD
Co-Director, GWC