Environment

Calif. Coastal Commissioners Vote More For Conservation

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published October 12, 2010 at 7:57 AM PDT

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

The sand dunes in Ocean Beach are a key nesting area for the California Least Tern, an endangered bird.

2009 Rankings Measure Pro-Conservation Votes

The three San Diego County representatives that served on the California Coastal Commission in 2009 scored near or above average on a ranking of votes based on coastal conservation.

The 2009 California Coastal Commission Conservation Voting Chart is a combined effort of the Surfrider Foundation, League for Coastal Protection, Sierra Club, California Coastkeeper Alliance and the California Protection Network.

The chart measures the pro-conservation scores of the commission.

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The 2009 rankings examine 25 separate votes, which were selected in consultation with coastal conservation activists based on their likely impact on coastal resources and their potential to set statewide precedent.

One of the votes was a request by Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Coastkeeper and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation to revoke a coastal development permit for a desalination plant in Carlsbad.

“Overall, we’re delighted to see the raise in conservation voting score,” said Angela Howe of the Surfrider Foundation. “It was 38 percent in 2008 and now in this 2009 chart it’s risen to 66 percent, which is a pretty substantial jump for the conservation voting trend.”

The voting chart shows Esther Sanchez of Oceanside ranked fourth on the list with 75 percent, Patrick Kruer of San Diego ranked sixth with 68 percent and Ben Hueso of San Diego was eighth at 64 percent.

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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