The unusually hot afternoon on April 9 served as a silent reminder of climate change while La Mesans celebrated Earth Day at MacArthur Park, children running around with unnecessary sweatshirts tied around their waists, parents clutching bottles of water and vendors tucked in under shade.
The line of vendor booths resembled the lineup from the last community park cleanup held in November 2021: La Mesa First United Methodist Church had children’s activities to keep little hands entertained, hula hoops lay scattered around the open dance area, representatives lined the path with a multitude of logoed collateral and government organizations repeated updates on their work with every person who stopped by their booths.
A Great Horned Owl, named Mutaah in Kumeya’ay, perched atop San Diego County Senior Park Ranger Christian Gonzales’ arm— wide eyes and head on a swivel in constant observation, panting, he showed small signs of stress in an uncertain environment.
“We’ve lost half the insect population, a third of birds, the temperature over a 10-year period is higher— We’re in a climate crisis,” City Council member Jack Shu said, standing near the midpoint of the event.
Two things are needed, Shu said, for community-style events like Earth Day celebrations to expand into action with potential to change environmental outcomes: government action and personal action. He believes the Climate Action Plan has to be updated for more effective outcomes at the government level, and that novel ideas, if implemented, need to be measured for efficacy at the local level rather than relying on San Diego Association of Governments for data. For example, he said, many new bike lanes have been installed but nobody is measuring if roads are any safer.
“We need to look at data. We don’t measure how well something is working and it isn’t SANDAG’s responsibility to measure success, it is ours,” Shu said
Additionally, he said, the government needs to break down large goals into prorated targets, stopping points on the way to achieving major success.
“For example, if a goal is to see a 10-20% reduction in emissions by 2030, work needs to start now and we need to track accomplishments. Did we not hit our goal this year? Then we need to add what we did not accomplish to the year’s goals so we stay on track,” Shu said.
That same approach needs to be implemented on a personal level, he said.
According to earthday.org, the first national Earth Day was held in 1970 and directly led to passage of several environmental protection laws as well as creation of the Environmental Protection Agency; in 1990 the event went international and focused on worldwide recycling efforts. Half a century since the agency was created, the environment appears to be in crisis.
“The impacts of climate change that we are feeling today, from extreme heat to flooding to severe storms, are expected to get worse,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said.
Furthermore, according to National Aeronatics and Space Administration, scientists “have high confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come,” largely due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities.
“Electric cars aren’t going to solve the problem,” Shu said.
Meanwhile, shiny electric cars stood on display, presenting a partial solution to greenhouse gases and an apparent source of interest for attendees who are presumably weary of high gasoline prices yet can afford the average EV price, according to Kelley Blue Book, of $56,000.
“People don’t realize how behind we are with transportation goals and how it has to be part of everyone’s goal. If we unbundle the cost of parking and how we get around, we can start dealing with the situation,” Shu said.
Across from Shu, staffers at the San Diego Humane Society booth gave out information on dog licensure, and the importance of observing leash laws.
According to information from San Diego county, unleashed dogs left to wander and possibly defecate in public places can leave high concentrations of bacteria in storm drains and waterways that kill fish and plant life by reducing the amount of oxygen available to them.
In the background, Flavor Company dancers took to the grass with vivid flowers crowning their hair; Artistic Director Belle Martin called out for attendees to join them in celebration.
Later, seated in the shade, Martin said dance allows people to express what cannot be put into words.
“We need our minds to take a break so we can heal part of our soul,” Martin said, looking out across the park.
Many families took that break on Saturday, strolling from the hub of the event to the community garden planted on the top level of the park.
“It is looking good up there,” La Mesa Park and Recreation Foundation Director Misty Thompson said.
In addition to the main line of booths, Thompson said, La Mesa Police Department was on hand to educate children about bike safety, and city staff had information on upcoming park improvements and summer happenings to bridge the gap until the next outreach event.
