Green Path Dead
My colleague Steven Cuevas went out and covered environmental groups celebrating the demise of the Green Path North project.
But it’s been dying for a while. In January I did a story about DWP failing to fund GPN.
The environmental groups who’ve long opposed GPN are fairly crowing:
“Everyone who cares about Joshua Tree National Park and its world-class wildlife should know that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has just made the right choice,” said Mike Cipra, NPCA’s California Desert Program Manager. “This massive power line would have blocked the path to life-giving springs for animals like desert bighorn sheep.”
“The leadership of the California Desert Coalition was absolutely essential in securing this major victory for Joshua Tree National Park,” said Cipra. “This was a case of many people caring about their national park and their community, and speaking out about their concerns. We credit the City of Los Angeles for listening—our national parks and their wildlife are worth protecting.”“Our coalition feels that this is a win for pristine desert lands and the voices of real people who speak out to protect the land they care about,” said Ruth Rieman, vice-chair of the California Desert Coalition. “This historic victory should give confidence to others who want to protect the desert.”
DWP’s strategy here has been a moving target. The project died unceremoniously under interim manager David Freeman; it came into the world under Ron Deaton and struggled mightily under David Nahai. That can’t have helped it get done. But the environmental groups seem to have successfully played this as their victory. They’ve been relentless in their opposition – most recently buying billboards, and keeping a steady presence at public meetings and in the press. Still, they seem to have gotten a boost from the DWP and the City of LA’s evolving priorities.
