Thank you for publishing the opinion piece “California needs its agencies to do their jobs” (Nov. 27).
Ms. Stegman points out that one of the responsibilities of the California Coastal Commission is to provide for strong marine habitat mitigation of the damage caused by Diablo Canyon’s once-through cooling system. Because Diablo Canyon sucks in up to 2.5 billion gallons of ocean water daily and then dumps it back out into the Pacific heated up 20 degrees, the Coastal Commission has identified Diablo as “California’s largest marine predator.”
Effective mitigation of the extensive harm to life in coastal waters will not be achieved by conserving land or by providing more trails for hikers—measures under consideration by the Coastal Commission. Replacing once-through cooling technology by cooling towers is the only way to protect the life forms along our coastline.
Jane Swanson
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace
This article appears in Dec 11-18, 2025.
About jane swansons cooling tower idea, she is correct. These giant towers are seen case in point at the Davis Bessie nuke plant on the shore of western lake Erie, where walleye and perch fish are in abundance. Enormous tall concrete towers they are. Perhaps , in the meantime the outflow of Diablo could Be dispersed over a larger sea area through nimerous smaller pipes to further cool down in a gradual way. Sea life could be moved away from the warmer area to safer colder waters ….perhaps warning signs beneath the sea for educated fishes …..bottom line is that pge should dvlp. More solar and hydroelectric type generating stations to make up for a closed Diablo. In the meantime public awareness and pressure helps p.g.e. behave .
As someone presently dining on a flaky, freshly baked, grassy rockfish I caught on my lunch break, let’s protect the ocean. If for nothing more than to ensure we have food to eat as our economy implodes. I for one, refuse to starve due to food inflation because our dollar has been so debased, ten bucks spends like two. It wouldnt be an issue if our wages would have risen proportionately. They haven’t. We are working harder for less.
Ladies and gentlemen, our economy is collapsing and both my president and his lackies at the Treasury and Fed are trying to keep this “economy” going for as long as they can so they can pull the rug at the most opportune time. Meanwhile, they’ve exited the dollar and bought gold. Everything is about to collapse.
Show me pictures of the damage causing this alarmism. Using Google Earth timeline feature there is no visual damage or discoloration at the DCPP outfall. If you sit on a balloon it bulges causing collateral consequences. Cooling towers emit a column of water vapor which is the #1 GHG and adds more atmospheric vapor than the 18 degree liquid increase from the condenser discharge. If you’re going to suggest a replacement you need to pick a more benign replacement, not one that exasperates your climate pet peeve. Surfers enjoyed the old warm Morro Bay powerplant outfall boosting them out along the rock past the breakers. Other than some missing kelp there was no lingering damage that I can see at the Morro Bay powerplant outfall that would warrant pressuring Vistra to surrender some land to a conservation group.
Scott:
*Diablo employee enters the chat.
I am, simply put, worried sick of the direction our esteemed leaders at our national government are taking this nation and the world. Never ever have I witnessed such obvious lies and corruption at this level. Shame on the trump administration. Shame on we the people for not fighting and expressing themselves . LFied and gentlemen, America is at the greatest crisis point in its history. We either take it or begin an endless fight to rid ourselves of this tyrannical regime. The children of this world deserve something better than this. Begin by vocally expressing our discontent everywhere you go and do not accept the the people who support this enemy leadership. In the meantime, insist that central California reach towards a day when nuclear toxic practices are abolished. To include a strong disdain for war mentality.
An addenda to the previous post… Do change obvious typo to ….ladies and gentleman….concerning the timely previous post.
John:
It’s over, we are almost 40 trillion in debt, wages have been left in the dust, upward mobility is gone, the dollar has been debased, we can’t balance our budget and pay for the gap with more national debt, the government is having a hard time selling bonds at auction, the Fed has become the buyer of last resort and as a result, we are turning into Japan, people have to buy their groceries on credit, anyone under 75yo can’t buy a house, our infrastructure is rotting, AI is taking white collar jobs, we’ve been deindustrialized, our politicians of all stripes are scum, mainstream media is just propaganda, and we are entering something worse than the Great Depression. Dont wait for the government to tell you we have a problem, start prepping.
The funniest part is Scott Bessent practically screaming (and stuttering) on national TV that “everything is fine!”
The first step on the road to recovery is admitting there is a problem. The longer people keep fingerprinting, the longer we have to wait to solve our problems. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re toast. It’s time to get out of denial, people don’t believe there is a problem until it effects them. Until everyone gets laid off or downsized, everyone’s pensions or 401k’s collapse, or when their rented is tripled, they won’t believe there is a problem.
What most people are doing is going through the Kübler-Ross model of grief, that is to say, denial, anger, bargening, depression and acceptance. Unfortunately, most people are stuck in stage one. It’s over, the America we knew died. Now, we enter national insolvency and a regression to a country similar to a central American nation, otherwise known as a banana Republic. Not only will we pay taxes, but if you want the most basic public service, you’ll have to bribe your way into renewing your driver’s license.
*finger pointing
Again. More evidence of this corrupt trumpian republican continues to inundate pur country. Our lives and the world. He….they are clearly dishonest as to their true intentions
….it’s like someone insisting they want to come over to your house to be social, yet the true intention wsd to steal your wife or girlfriend. The government says it had little money for vets, social programs. Rebuilding infrastructure, yet continues with endless wars. Weapons dvlpmnt. Sales etc. The recent venezuela campaign was illegal on its execution and planning. Kidnapping a head of state is criminal when one observes how our gov. Executed all this mess with out congressional approval.djt. our so called pres. Should be in prison for crimes against humanity for starters
Hopefully the powers at be will hand him the sentencing the day his term ends. That is if he sur Ives or lives that long. We can only pray. John rdeards
I hope more Americans of all kinds see the true light of this crisis we are quickly entering. Biggest frog march on Washington now.