D1 is home to some of the City’s most remarkable natural environments, including breathtaking beaches, coastal bluffs, natural open spaces, river valleys, and diverse marine habitats.

Earth Day is a reminder of the importance of caring for our planet, protecting the spaces and places we love, and handing over a cleaner, greener world for generations to come.

While Earth Day is celebrated on April 22, I was able to take several actions throughout the week to celebrate and commemorate the spirit of Earth Day. With neighbors, partners, and colleagues, I unveiled new signs to uplift Rose Creek, responded to the Trump Administration’s dangerous recission of the EPA’s Endangerment Finding, and reinforced our environmental values.

I joined Representative Mike Levin, Senator Catherine Blakespear, Sierra Club San Diego Executive Committee Chair Lisa Ross, and WILDCOAST Executive Director Serge Dedina to unveil a new billboard campaign in opposition to offshore oil and gas exploration on California’s coast.

Californians know the risks to our communities, economy, and beaches posed by oil drilling. The destruction and devastation to biodiversity, commercial fisheries, and animal life wreaked by the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill still looms presently in our collective memory. Despite this, the Trump Administration opened waters in Southern California for oil and gas leasing, with the first sale expected to take place next year.

Offshore oil and gas exploration takes us backwards. It moves us further from our climate goals and threatens our culture and way of life in San Diego. We will not idly sit back as the Federal government takes rash action to impose a future that San Diegans do not want. I previously led the Council to pass resolutions to protect our environment and keep our coasts clear from oil drilling. Our beaches and unrivaled natural environment are the reasons many choose to call San Diego home, and I will always work to defend them.

As Chair of the Rules Committee, I introduced an item to request the City Attorney’s Office to work with my office to prepare a resolution cementing the City of San Diego’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and support of the EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding.

The Endangerment Finding established that greenhouse gases harm public health, threaten the public welfare of current and future generations, and vehicle emissions cause and contribute to climate change. This, along with a Supreme Court ruling, provided the legal basis for the EPA to regulate GHG emissions.

In February, the Trump Administration finalized a rule to rescind the Endangerment Finding. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, this recission is expected to increase national GHG emissions by 10% over the next 30 years. This federal action, among others, is deeply troubling and directly in opposition to the goals, values, and objectives found within the City of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan.

We know that climate change poses a unique set of challenges to our City and region, especially as it relates to the climbing risk of wildfires and other natural disasters. This resolution reaffirms the scientific fact that current and projected concentrations of greenhouse gases worsen the climate crisis and highlight the need to reduce municipal and community GHG emissions.

I will continue to lead at City Hall and urge my colleagues to confront the climate crisis in the face of harmful Federal actions.  

On Thursday, I unveiled the eight new signs for Rose Creek, alongside leaders from the Friends of Rose Creek, San Diego Bird Alliance, and the Mission Bay High School Interact Club.

Throughout San Diego’s history, Rose Creek has played a vital role in cultural life as a gathering place for the Kumeyaay people and as a critical component to the health of surrounding wetlands and marshes. However, the Creek has not received the public recognition it has long deserved. The idea for these signs originated with the San Diego Bird Alliance and Friends of Rose Creek seeking opportunities to acknowledge and uplift Rose Creek. Now, pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers will know that it is not just a bridge but a crossing of Rose Creek and its natural habitat.

Eight signs will be installed at the four different crossings of Rose Creek in Pacific Beach:

• Mission Bay Dr.
• Grand Ave.
• Garnet Ave.
• and the Mike Gotch Bridge

I am proud to have provided funding for the installation of these signs through my office’s Community Programs, Projects and Services (CPPS) funding program. Thank you to the Friends of Rose Creek, the San Diego Bird Alliance, and all of the community partners for your continuing partnership and advocacy.

Council President Joe LaCava

Councilmember, District 1

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