Coastal

Welcome to the Coasters – North County Coastal Group

The Coasters cover the North County coastal area from Del Mar to Oceanside. We organize a variety of Sierra Club initiatives including Conservation and Land Use efforts, Political Endorsements, Zero Waste and Climate Issues, Electrification, Outings and more.

North County Coastal Group

We are planning some monthly informal outings, such as walks with cleanups, bird ID, plant ID and so on,

followed by potlucks starting in January 2025!

Please provide input on ideas!

We might consider San Elijo Nature Center

let us know your ideas for a monthly meet-up location
We.hold regular Quarterly Meetings
We last met

Thursday, November 7, at 7 pm via Zoom

previously Wednesday, August 16th

We met Wednesday, April 26th

7:00 to 8:30 pm

Buena Vista Nature Center, 2202 South Coast Hwy, Oceanside
Hybrid Meeting In-person/Zoom

Register Here to attend by Zoom

Celebrate Earth Month with the Sierra Club!

Featured Speaker:
Eric Joyce
Oceanside City Council Member, District 1

Meet new Council Member Eric Joyce! He will discuss his approach to priority issues in Oceanside including future development, environmental justice and housing afforda- bility. Eric Joyce was elected to represent Oceanside’s District 1 in 2022. He previously served on the Oceanside Unified School District Board where he led on initiatives to re- build underfunded schools, update books and curriculum, and implement an innova- tive “community school model” in our most impacted schools.

Special Presentation:
Diane Nygaard
Intro to Effective Activism

For over 2 decades, Diane Nygaard has been in the vanguard of many successful envi- ronmental campaigns that shaped North County: saving El Corazon and the Oceanside pier and beachfront from being incorporated into a resort development, restoring Buena Vista lagoon, preventing a mall on sensitive habitat in Carlsbad, and the land- mark creation of the Oceanside GHG Emission Reduction Fund. Learn from the expert how you can help to protect our remaining open spaces and how to defend against damaging sprawl development. Ms. Nygaard will provide practical tips and essential strategies based on her successful record as an activist.

What’s New From The Coasters

Team Updates

The Coasters cover the North County coastal area from Del Mar to Oceanside. We organize a variety of Sierra Club initiatives including Conservation and Land Use efforts, Political Endorsements, Zero Waste and Climate Issues, Electrification, Outings and more.

Carlsbad Team – Paige DeCino
Carlsbad’s Sierra Club team recently voiced its concern on what they considered a poor decision by their city council to authorize a change order for 40 police cruisers from hybrid engines to conventional engines due to a possible delay in receiving the hybrid cars because of production problems. Only 6 of the 40 vehicles were for replacements, the other for a new ‘take-home’ car program. Only one Councilmember asked for a compromise so as to not backslide on the city’s commitment to climate action, but, alas, no other Councilmember spoke up to consider this option.

We continue to push for building electrification especially since the city council declared a climate emergency in September, 2021, and yet no action or consideration of the urgency of the climate crisis seems to be factoring into city policies. Lastly, we like to note that a second team member has been appointed to the Clean Energy Alliance Community Advisory Committee. Congrats to Lynda Daniels.

Encinitas Team – Harold Standerfer
Senator Catherine Blakespear- Environmental Warrior
Recently elected State Senator Catherine Blakespear assumes her role in Sacramento with an impressive record on environmental issues. She was endorsed by the Sierra Club in the 2022 election. She was previously endorsed by the club when she was elected to serve three terms as mayor of Encinitas. As mayor she made her mark as an environmental leader in San Diego County. Under her leadership and with the support of other city council members the city developed and implemented an award winning Climate Action Plan (CAP) that includes commitments by the city to meet GHG reduction targets, transportation mode shift goals and an improved urban tree canopy for carbon sequestration. Of 20 measures in the CAP, 13 have been completed, five are in progress and two are awaiting resources according to a report by the City in February.

Other accomplishments under Ms. Blakespear as mayor include the establishment of one of the largest Community Choice Energy groups in California, San Diego Community Power. Encinitas was one of five founding members of the consortium. Ms Blakespear was instrumental in moving Encinitas into a 100% clean energy option as the default energy choice. The city adopted a model building code ordinance that eliminates gas infrastructure in the construction of new residential and commercial buildings. This ordinance was one of the first in the county and is used as a template for other cities considering adopting a building electrification ordinance. The also city adopted a single use plastic bag, plastic straw and plastic utensil ban. We look forward to great work from Senator Blakespear in Sacramento. Meetings and activities are open to all, for more information contact Harold Standerfer here.

Oceanside Team – Barbara Collins
The Oceanside Team celebrated Earth Day with a booth at the Green Oceanside event on April 20th . Visitors to our table played Spin the Climate Action Wheel and took home free succulents and native plants. Sierra Club volunteers met scores of Oceansiders who stopped by to visit, ask questions and take home information.

The team has also met with City Councilmembers recently to discuss Oside’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), Smart Growth, Building Decarbonization, and keeping natural grass in city parks, not replacing it with synthetic turf, a toxic petrochemical product. Roger Davenport, the Co-chair of our team, was appointed to the Clean Energy Alliance (CEA) Community Advisory Committee (CAC). The CAC provides feedback on CEA programs and implementation, acts as a liaison between the board and the community and serves as a forum for community input.

Do you have a few minutes and want to learn about a key contributor to our climate crisis and what we can do about it? Then check out our new video Sprawl Costs Us All. Please join us, contact Barbara Collins here.

What Can You Do Now? Our Goal is to support the Sierra Club Mission to “Explore, Enjoy and Protect our Planet,” while addressing issues and providing outdoor opportunities that are important to our North County Coastal area.

Here are some immediate ways that you can get involved:

City Ambassador – We are looking for a few volunteers to become Information Ambassadors for their city – Ambassadors will help us stay up to date with important issues, developments and activities in each of the coastal cities. This will help our group stay informed and ready to mobilize on hot button issues. Contact Mayela at mayelaphoto@gmail.com.

Conservation Group – Volunteers will help jump start a “Coasters Conservation Group.” This group will work with the San Diego Chapter Conservation Group while bringing North County issues and priorities to the forefront. Contact Alice at aliceh.john@gmail.com.

Outings – Our San Diego Chapter offers a number of ways to enjoy our beautiful region from sponsored hikes to Basic Wilderness Training Courses. Our Coasters group will be a galvanizing force for our area to tap into all that is currently available while exploring opportunities that are unique to our region. Contact Carl Pope at seatp3@gmail.com.

Social Media Guru – We are looking for volunteers to help us create and manage our website and FaceBook page. Effective communication with our “Coasters Group” is the key to our success and critical during this politically charged time! Contact Sally at sallyp123@mac.com.

If you are interested in any of these opportunities, would like more information and /or have some other ideas to help build our Group please contact Sally Prendergast @sallyp123@mac.com.