IÂ have concerns about the safety of some energy resource projects and the trustworthiness and reliability of the permitting agencies.
Let’s start with Diablo Canyon Power Plant. Is it safe? Is it sustainable? One of the conditions to renewing the permit was to fix the cooling process that kills 2 billion bottom-of-the-food-chain fish eggs and larvae every year. Has that condition been resolved? And if not, why not? Are the eggs, larva, and fry regarded as collateral damage?
In which case, the integrity and environmental consideration of the project have been compromised to the point of being of no significant value and worth to avoid the deadly consequences.
The man-made removal of a food chain link begs the question of the standards, integrity, and trustworthiness of those decisions by regulatory agencies and administrators that get their marching orders from elected officials. What other exemptions and exceptions to the rules have been allowed and why?
Is it an economic issue? Is it cost prohibitive to enforce the safety rules and regulations we were promised and that would prevent 2 billion fish eggs and larvae from being destroyed?
Prioritizing profit as the bottom line over safety, security, and our quality of life and peace of mind is diametrically opposed to the spirit and embodiment of our democracy.
If the bottom line is profit, I have to wonder how many other compromises have been made in favor of profitability at our expense.
I do not recall agreeing to this change in priorities giving companies like PG&E, Sable, Exxon, and Chevron top dog status over our sovereignty as citizens and residents. Elected officials were never given power of attorney over our unalienable rights to be free from self-appointed dictatorial control.
We are part and parcel to nature. What we do to nature we do to ourselves. That is just the fact of the matter. We love living here. Protecting, preserving, and prioritizing its value and worth is the doctrine of trust we placed in our elected officials.
I have to say that those involved in renewing and extending PG&E’s permit to operate raises serious doubts about their integrity, intent, and trustworthiness. Knowing also that regulators have full knowledge of the principle’s criminal record of felonies and bad faith operations only compounds my lack of confidence and trust in this whole process.
I wish there was a way to show and prove that my fears and doubts were unwarranted and wrong. Like a third party audit proving all conditions to renewal were unconditionally fulfilled and satisfied.
If my concerns seem frivolous and unjustified, perhaps even cost prohibitive, then I guess that answers my questions unequivocally. Clearly, the bottom line means that profits reign supreme and not the love of principles or value of safety and well-being for the good of all.
And for future reference: When safety and priority in projects like offshore drilling, data centers, Arroyo Grande Oil Field, dumping PFAS into our groundwater, and killing billions of fish eggs and larvae all comes down to money as the bottom line and people as collateral damage, then the laws of the state have failed.
When the laws of the state have failed, we must act by the laws of nature. Our love of nature and the natural world is our innate drive for peace and harmony for the good of all and reigns supreme. Nature rules with love. Hate and fear rule with greed and leads to self-destruction. It’s happening. Love rules. ∆
Jean’ne Blackwell writes to New Times from San Luis Obispo. Send a response for publication to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in April 2-9, 2026.
