Culture and Coexistence into the Great Unknown
From the incredible oeuvre of Jerry Collamer, cartoonist extraordinaire.
Almost two and a half years after the nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima, the head of Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) raised concern on August 5 about the continued flow of radioactive water from the plant going into the Pacific Ocean, telling Reuters, “Right now we have a state of emergency.” Hmm, yes, sounds about right.
No matter where they’re stuck in OC’s sprawling road network: on I-5, the 405, Crown Valley Parkway, or in their own driveway — a magical toll road miles from their moribund vehicular situation will time-travel them up, to that heavenly place of commuter-bliss, where slowdowns never occur.
8.4 million people, put at risk for radioactive disaster from a meltdown at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, now rejoice as Southern California Edison announces its closure.
“San Fran has Coit Tower. Paris its Eiffel Tower. DC the Washington Monument. New York City, the Statue of liberty, and us, we got some downtown parking.”
While large fish fail to thrive at Southern California Edison’s artificial reef off the coast of San Clemente, California, mitigation mandated by the California Coastal Commission to repair destroyed kelp beds at their San Onofre Nuclear Plant (called SONGS), a wider marine mammal crisis is ongoing. Could radiation released from SONGS be the culprit in both cases?
A movement to pave over San Onofre State Beach and Trestles with a toll-road-to-nowhere-for-nobody-but-developers was rejected by the California Coastal Commission and Federal Commerce Department in 2008. Yet, here again the State Water Boards will decide in May whether to grant a permit for the “Stupid Toll Road” to dump contaminated runoff into creeks and the ocean while keeping the dream alive of paving over Trestles.
World-renowned San Onofre and Trestles have been synonymous with California surfing since the 1930s. A movement to pave over the park and beach with a toll road was rejected by in 2008. We now have the opportunity to have it recognized for its historical contributions by being listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and stop that toll road project for good.