Joining with 113 state and national organizations, MBCA signed onto a letter in support of California's AB 59, a bill which would mandate that future electrical vehicles be bi-directional, providing a source of power to households when needed. As noted in our June 24 Eblast, "With the many recent setbacks to rooftop solar, this legislation would serve to encourage rooftop solar and micro-grid DG generation, while providing resilience to our increasingly stressed electrical grid."

Among the more than 700 people who attended the BLM public hearing on the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument in Indio on June 14 were a number of MBCA Board members. Dozens of public comments were made to the BLM, emphasizing the many environmental, cultural, and climate change advantages to conserving about 627,000 acres of desert land in southeast California. The Bird Singers of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians performed, and Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent Jane Rodgers received enthusiastic applause! A detailed report on the meeting can be found at the Protect Chuckwalla website.

Pictured below are MBCA Board member Pat Flanagan, Steve Bardwell, and Sarah Kennington; Pat and Sarah with Friends of Big Morongo Canyon Preserve Executive Director Kevin Wong; and the Bird Singers performance.

 
 

At their June 11 meeting, County Supervisors are set to receive the latest consultant report on Program 4, the Short-Term Rental study initiated by the state housing agency. MBCA has reviewed the report and is concerned that "the requirements of the Program 4 Study have not been satisfied." MBCA's June 11 letter specifies our concerns and states our expectation to continue "participating in the ongoing process of preparing the Program 4 study and view the current report as another step towards that end."

A June 9 opinion article in the San Bernardino Sun points to the continuing irresponsible actions of the Cadiz corporation in seeking to pump precious desert water from a key aquifer in the Mojave Desert. Their recent efforts to gain approval for their project within the Latino community is pointed out in particular as exploitative. Click our tag Cadiz below to find many past reports about the Cadiz water project.

This YouTube video from Dark Sky International features an excellent presentation about the state of the science of determining and reducing light pollution. The report compiles and provides easy access to thousands of recent research studies on dark sky issues. The presenter, John Barentine, is an astronomer who was an important source of assistance in early dark sky efforts right here in the Morongo Basin when he was a staff member at Dark Sky International. John also outlines 5 issues he believes are of growing concern, and for which research efforts are increasing.

The desert receives overdue attention with the CNN network's video presentation about the impressive desert natives seed bank created by the Mojave Desert Land Trust. Read the article or watch the short video. Desert biodiversity is an essential element in climate change resilience and ecosystem balance.

Joshua Tree's County Service Area 20 submitted a grant for improvements to the Community Center facilities that would "reduce the impacts of extreme heat, build community resilience, and strengthen the Joshua Tree community's vulnerability to heat." MBCA's letter supports the proposed improvements that include new outdoor cooling technology, drought-tolerant native landscaping, shade trees, community art, and more.