We represent a group of people with diverse interests - interests that overlap in the conservation and preservation of our planet and the beings that inhabit it.
Below are topics that have come up in our conversations, relating to our city, county, and state - sharing and learning from each other. You'll find links associated with each topic that will take you to a trusted source to learn more.
We'll continue to update and add to the below - if you'd like to contribute, please email us at hello@cliiimateconversations.com.
City Level
Food Waste Recycling Program
While food and yard waste are biodegradable, it’s a common misconception that they can naturally compost in landfills. The unfortunate truth is that garbage creates a low-oxygen environment, which prevents microbes from breaking down organic matter. Instead, it produces methane gas, which seeps through the cracks and escapes into the atmosphere.
Instead, please consider backyard composting or joining a food compost program, such as that offered by the City of Ventura. Your actions can help to return nutrients to the earth and reduce soil depletion.
https://rcbc.ca/our-faqs/why-should-i-compost-wont-my-food-scrap-biodegrade-in-the-landfill-anyways/
https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/2524/Free-Compost-Mulch-Program
https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/1171/Food-Waste-Prevention
Ventura Main Street Moves
Our world has undergone immeasurable changes since March 2020, though not all of them have been detrimental. Main Street, Ventura initially closed to vehicles as a COVID-19 safety measure, and it allowed businesses to extend parklets into former parking spaces. It also expanded safe walking spaces for pedestrians.
Residents and visitors have shown so much support for the walkable section of Downtown Ventura that in January 2025, the City Council elected to continue the program indefinitely. Voice your thoughts! On Saturday, May 31 from 10:00am-12:00pm, the City of Ventura invites you to a community visioning session:
https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/2165/Main-Street-Moves-MSM.
County Level
Don't Enable Sable - Stop the Oil Restart
In 2015, the Plains All American pipeline spill contaminated the Santa Barbara Channel. Help us prevent the same offshore oil rigs from reopening.
https://california.surfrider.org/blog/dont-enable-sable-campaign-updates-and-call-to-action
https://www.independent.com/2025/02/22/dont-enable-sable/
https://www.sierraclub.org/santa-barbara-ventura/blog/2025/04/sable-blatently-ignores-violations
Santa Susana Field Lab
The Santa Susana Field Lab was opened in Simi Valley in 1947. From then until 2006, it was used to test rocket fuel, nuclear reactors, and liquid metal. Of its ten nuclear reactors, accidents occurred in at least four, and in 1959 the Sodium Reactor Experiment experienced a partial core meltdown with poor radiation containment. The lab has been linked to over 250 cases of cancer fatalities. Boeing, the Department of Energy, and NASA (the lab’s co-owners) reached a cleanup agreement in 2007 stating that they would remove the radiation from the soil by 2017, by which point the cleanup effort hadn’t even begun. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control entered a new “confidential mediation” with the owners in 2021, diminishing transparency surrounding the remediation. Groundwater and soil treatments are just beginning.
In the Dark of the Valley documentary, 2021, Nicholas Mihm
https://dtsc.ca.gov/santa_susana_field_lab/ssfl_site_activities_overview/
https://dtsc.ca.gov/santa_susana_field_lab/santasusanafieldlabfaq/
https://ssfl.msfc.nasa.gov/cleanup
https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/10/santa-susana-cleanup-nuclear-waste/
https://www.nrdc.org/bio/caroline-reiser/questions-and-answers-about-santa-susana-field-lab
https://www.boeing.com/sustainability/environment/santa-susana/comprehensive-cleanup
Invasive Plants
When Spanish missionaries traveled across California in the 1700s, it’s commonly thought that they marked the El Camino Real trail with mustard seeds. Black mustard has since become one of the most invasive plants in California. The yellow-flowering plant is drought-resistant and releases allelopathic chemicals into the soil to inhibit other plants’ growth. When it dries it becomes the perfect kindling for wildfires.
Black mustard is only one of over 1,000 invasive plant species in our state, disturbing our natural ecosystems’ delicate balance. To help, you can familiarize yourself with what is native and invasive in your bioregion. (Ventura County primarily falls under 85b and 85c–please refer to the map linked below.) Pull invasive plants when you find them and plant natives, especially milkweed*, the only host plant to monarch butterflies. Our local wildlife appreciates your help!
*Please note that tropical milkweed is not native to California, and it can lead to severe parasitic infections in monarch caterpillars. Narrowleaf, common, and showy milkweed are ideal subspecies for Ventura County!
https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2016/1021/ofr20161021_sheet1.pdf
https://www.pbssocal.org/news-community/the-colonial-roots-of-the-black-mustard-plant
Wildfire Preparation and Prevention
In December 2017, the Tomas Fire swept across Ventura County. At the time, it was the largest California wildfire in the past century. Now, less than a decade later, it’s been reduced to #9.
Climate change is increasing wildfires’ intensity and frequency, making preparedness essential. We can begin by removing combustible materials like mulch, dry brush, gutter debris, and trash cans from within 5 feet of our homes.
It’s also helpful to clear invasive species, which are not adapted to California’s hot, dry climate. These plants become the perfect fuel for flames. Instead, plant California natives, which retain water during our state’s dry months.
Higher-commitment efforts involve making home modifications. This can include replacing wood shingles with asphalt or tile; installing double-paned glass windows; and using materials like stucco, fiber cement, and treated wood on home siding.
https://readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/hardening-your-home/
https://cafiresafecouncil.org/all-resources/home-hardening/
https://www.sonomanews.com/article/news/sonoma-valley-fire-season-preparedness/
Rodenticides
Rodent bait in household, commercial, and agricultural settings is harming more than just rodents. Anticoagulants (blood thinners) bioaccumulate, meaning that they become more concentrated as they move up in the food web. Mouse-consumed rodenticides build in their predators’ bodies, like foxes and coyotes, and those chemicals can become devastating to bobcats, mountain lions, and raptors at the next level. Secondary and tertiary predators are now dying of minor illnesses when anticoagulants compromise their immune systems.
Safer alternatives exist to manage pest infestations. If you reside in a rural area, owl boxes and raptor poles invite predatory birds to work as your rodent control specialists. Other natural predators like coyotes and snakes help to keep rodent populations balanced. If you must remove rats and mice from your home or business, please consider live traps, snap traps, safe repellants (mint essential oil is said to deter rodents!), and other bait-free methods. Researchers are testing the efficacy of unconventional rodent solutions, such as using electric currents around structures to deter rats and mice.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/researchers-investigate-rodenticides-and-mange-in-bobcats.htm
https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.2193/2005-615
https://cawildlife.org/cwc/3513/
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10646-015-1429-5
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/rodenticides.html
http://vcportal.ventura.org/BOS/District2/RaptorPilotStudy.pdf
Light Pollution
Light pollution refers to the artificial lights that humans emit at night. Aesthetically, it decreases star visibility, but its impact is even more extensive. As more home exteriors and streetlights adopt daylight-replicating LEDs, nocturnal hunters like owls and bats face disruptions to their hunting patterns. Frogs, who mate in the evenings, are experiencing population declines, and lights draw sea turtle hatchlings away from the ocean. You can prevent light pollution by only using outdoor lights as necessary and by using dim, low-to-the-ground fixtures. Ideally, they should be positioned away from reflective surfaces. Research has shown that warmer colors, like yellow and red lights, are safer for wildlife than blue and white colored lights in places where lights are needed.
https://darksky.org/resources/what-is-light-pollution/effects/wildlife-ecosystems/
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/campaign/light-pollution
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-71868-4
https://kids.niehs.nih.gov/topics/natural-world/wildlife/ecology/lighting
State Level
Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act (SB 684 & AB 1243)
In 2024, New York and Vermont became the first U.S. states to implement Polluters Pay bills. California has proposed similar bills, SB 684 and AB 1243, in both its Senate and House of Representatives. If enacted, this bill would tax the corporations that have polluted at least 1 billion tons of carbon, such as Aera (Exxon and Shell’s parent company), Oxy, and Chevron. The tax percentage is proportional to the fossil fuel emissions they are responsible for from 1990 onward. The taxes collected would fund studies into the extent of California’s climate damage, and they would also help to resolve past and future climate disasters.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/californians-make-polluters-pay
Air Quality
California’s poorly-ranked air pollution contributes to heart and respiratory conditions, and rising temperatures exacerbate its effects.
https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/report/calenviroscreen-40
Sea Level Rise and Coastal Erosion
Sea level rise is projected to increase by 1-6 feet by 2100. This would impact the 68% of Californians who live in coastal counties and cost the state billions of dollars.
https://opc.ca.gov/sea-level-rise/
https://opc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/California-Sea-Level-Rise-Guidance-2024-508.pdf