Happy New Year MBCA members and supporters!

MBCA Annual Meeting – ‘Seeking Housing Solutions’
Mark your calendars and plan to attend our annual meeting! Adequate and affordable housing is a critical component in the Economic Well-Being of our Healthy Desert Environment. This meeting will bring together voices to discuss the status of housing within the Morongo Basin. In attendance will be representatives from the three jurisdictions of the Basin to discuss their efforts in addressing the challenges of providing housing for the community.

The meeting will be catered with a light breakfast and lunch served. There is no charge to attend, but we encourage you to take this opportunity to renew your MBCA membership. Please RSVP for the event on our website!

When:
Saturday, January 21, 2023, 9:30 am - 2:00 pm

Where:
In person at the Town of Yucca Valley Community Center
          57090 Twentynine Palms Highway
          Yucca Valley, CA 92284

Benefit for Homeless / Un-Housed Children
In December MBCA partnered with FurstWurld in the production of a day-long benefit in support of homeless and un-housed children within the Morongo Basin. This event raised over $10,000 !!! to be distributed to the Community Outreach Services of the Morongo Unified School District. The official presentation of the funds will occur at a meeting of the School Board this month. Many thanks to FurstWurld for hosting the event and the many musicians and artists performing, as well as the businesses and individuals who donated their time and resources to make this event a success!

Light Trespass Ordinance is in Effect
It has been a year since the County of San Bernardino Light Trespass Ordinance officially went into effect on January 6, 2022. This ordinance requires that outdoor light fixtures be shielded to preserve the dark night sky. Compliance with this ordinance is mandatory for commercial and industrial uses within 18 months (July 2023), and for all other uses including residential within 24 months (January 2024). The International Dark Sky Association (IDA) has recommendations on how to address a neighbor’s non-compliant lighting. Should that approach prove to be insufficient, contact code enforcement to file a complaint.

Rooftop Solar Update
At their December 15, 2022 meeting, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted to amend the Net Energy Metering (NEM) structure that sets rates and conditions for rooftop-generated electricity sent into the grid. NEM 3.0 regulations, as adopted, will enact a 75% reduction from the current reimbursement of new rooftop-generated solar energy sent into the grid. Existing rooftop solar installations will continue as before; however, any new systems installed after April 2023 will be subject to the new regulations. The climate emergency requires that we transition to a clean renewable energy system as quickly as possible. However, this transition must not be at the expense of the destruction of the carbon-sequestering wildlife habitat of the intact ecosystem for the construction of utility-scale renewable energy development.

MBCA continues to advocate for a distributed electrical generation system in the built environment to ensure resilience as the climate emergency and natural disasters become more common. Following hurricane IAN, communities employing micro-grids were able to maintain power, saving lives and providing vital services. In the near future, all vehicles will be electrically powered and one’s automobile will have a battery (ideally charged from rooftop solar!) that has the potential to be part of a community micro-grid. We believe employing ideas of this type is critical to adapting to, and also acknowledging the science of a changing climate.

Thank You for your continued support of MBCA whose mission is:

To advocate for the healthy desert environment that nurtures the region’s rural character, cultural wealth and economic well-being.