Sam Huang

In the painting by Sam Huang, existing infrastructure (namely freeways) are festooned with wind mills and adorned with solar panels. The transmission of the energy generated by them would also run along the freeway.

The work was part of a 2006 exhibit, "Using Art to Explain the Science of Global Warming," at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum and is now hanging at a gallery at La Sierra University in south Riverside.

This, no doubt, will be at the center of the biggest environmental debate for some time to come.

Every time I talk to folks at the utilities, they say there is no way to meet

And most activists say the utilities need to focus more on solar-roof tops and generating renewable energy closer to the demand. They say Germany, not known for its sunny climate, already does that.

So sometimes in our society the best solutions come from the most creative minds. Are there any drawbacks to this idea by Huang? Is it something that might work?

Brian Brady, former head of Temecula-based Rancho California Water District and now head of the Imperial Irrigation District in Imperial County, said transmission lines in his area — where Los Angeles wants to tap into the abundant geothermal resources — already line many of the canals in the valley.

Green Path North is a project being proposed by Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The transmission lines and towers could go through the San Bernardino National Forest, desert preserves and a heavily urbanized area in the Inland area where homes might have to be razed.

Rik Livingston thinks he knows. The artist from Joshua Tree won $300 on Saturday for this poster below.

Rik Livingston

In fact, his poster was judged the top winner at a public meeting in Yucca Valley about the controversial renewable energy project being proposed by Los Angeles Department of Water and power.

Livingston's check was awarded by the California Desert Coalition, which formed to oppose the proposal by the Los Angeles utility that would carve out new transmission corridors for a renewable energy project.

As for Livingston, who recently moved to Joshua Tree from San Francisco:

"I have donated my poster's image to The California Desert Coalition (CDC) for use in the fight to preserve and protect our desert I now call home," he wrote in an e-mail.

Also, I got an interesting e-mail from a reader after that story was published.

"In the interest of discerning those who genuinely stand behind their convictions from those who are outright hypocrites, please ask people who are strongly opposed to either new power lines through the desert or a new generation facility in their own community if they are willing to contact their local power company and have their power shut off."

The Press-Enterprise/Amanda Lucidon

A bicyclist gets out and about at Riverside's Fairmount Park earlier this week.

If you're heading to the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve near Murrieta to do a hike, there's an art exhibit you can check out at the visitors center. More than 20 artists contributed to "Revealing the Unseen -- Artistic Views of a Protected Landscape," which is going on through Sept. 21.

And if you want to escape to the cooler mountains, you can always check out the Big Bear Discovery Center. This weekend, gold panning, a map and compass class and stories about historical trappers will be going on. Click here for more details.

Or you can hone your outdoor photography skills with an REI class on Saturday.

If you're home-shopping, a builder is hosting a Solar Expo in Temecula on Saturday to show its solar-paneled homes, complete with tankless water heaters and other energy-efficient features. And apparently they're going to go big with this vision, meaning at least 300 homes in Temecula and Menifee.

Speaking of solar panels, you may have heard that California will become the first state in the nation to require new homes and businesses to be energy efficient. That due to a vote yesterday by the California Building Standards Commission to adopt the green building code.

On Sunday evening, Orange County Coastkeeper, which is tied to Inland Empire WaterKeeper, is showing five selections from the Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival at an event down in Costa Mesa.

For you calendar, the local chapter of the Sierra Club's newest group based in Temecula will have its monthly meeting this Thursday.

Like the San Bernardino County supervisors before them, they don't like it. Part of the reason, they say, is that new transmission lines could go through land preserved for endangered species as part of a large plan to balance conservation and development.

The Press-Enterprise/William Wilson Lewis III

Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley in a 2005 photo.

Here's what Rivco Supervisor Marion Ashley told our new Riverside County reporter, Julia Glick, before yesterday's meeting:

"The trouble is they call it a green path," Ashley told her. "It is just one heck of a green path, wiping out swaths of San Bernardino and Riverside counties' conservation habitats."

You can read Julia's whole story here.

And don't forget, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials will hold their first public meeting this Saturday. It will be held at

You can check the newspaper's story from a few weeks ago to see why Los Angeles officials say their transmission lines may need to run through Inland communities, potentially demolishing up to 3,500 homes, or through the San Bernardino National Forest or desert preserves. Essentially, they need to bolster their renewable energy portfolio and geothermal reserves at the Salton Sea are a constant source of energy unlike wind and solar power.

Canadian Museum of Civilization

Mount Harkin in the Kootenay National Park in British Columbia.

On a visit to the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa last week, I came upon a quote by Harkin, who proclaimed this:

". . the National Parks ensure that every Canadian, by right of citizenship, will still have free access to vast areas possessing some of the finest scenery in Canada, in which the beauty of the landscape is protected from profanation, the natural wild animals, plants and forests preserved, and the peace and solitude of primeval nature retained."

Canada is a country blessed with lots of natural resources. But, at a time when extracting natural resources was the thing to do in both the United States and Canada, Harkin promoted tourism as an alternative to the mining, forestry and dam-building that he believed threatened to destroy the countryside.

Have any of you visited Banff National Park in Alberta or other Canadian national parks? And how do they compare to national parks here? And what about his quote, that citizenship should entitle you to the finest scenery in the country? (although these days the parks do charge entry fees).

The weekend is supposed to be another warm one in the I.E., so hitting the mountains or the beach is a good idea. Or why not go into an air-conditioned museum for an interesting lecture.

(SHNS photo by Bill Sandke / Coronado Island Visitors Bureau)

With all the hot weather in the I.E., the beach sure does look tempting. Here is the beach in front of the Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego.

On Sunday, the curator of paleontology at the San Bernardino County Museum will give a lecture on "Horses -- America's Most Export-Ever!" And museum entry is free that day. Eric Scott, who will give his talk at 2 p.m., says that even though horses are considered by many to be of foreign origin, they are actually native, having originated in America more than fifty million years ago as a small marshland creature.

"People often think the first Spanish explorers brought horses to America," Scott said. "But it wasn't really an introduction, since horses originated here on this continent. It was more like old friends becoming reacquainted."

And next Wednesday, you can go to REI in Rancho Cucamonga to hear about "100 classic hikes in Southern California" from Allen Riedel, a frequent contributor to our outdoor page here at the P.E. You can read his latest story about hiking Mount San Jacinto.

And some or your summer reading might entail a new book about California's disappearing wildflowers by Richard Minnich, a UC Riverside professor.

With 2009 vehicles about to hit the showrooms, they will be required to display a window sticker indicating how their greenhouse gas emissions compare with other vehicles of the same model year, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

The San Jose Mercury News

The vehicles ratings, stemming from the first-in-the-nation law, will range from 1 to 10, with the higher score being the best for the environment.

And speaking of climate change, Greenpeace is celebrating July 4th a day early with a global warming street rally today in Palm Springs.

They will also deliver hundreds of postcards and photo-petitions to the local office of Rep. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, asking her to take action.

And now those artists lucky enough to be chosen for two programs at the Inland park will have a chance to soak it up and produce new works.

How could Ansel Adams not be inspired by Joshua Tree? He took this photo in 1942 and called it, "In Joshua Tree National Monument, California."

If you or anyone you know is artistically inclined, with pen, paint brush or otherwise, there's still time to apply, by July 15, for the artist-in-residence program and the affiliate artist program.

The programs are operated by the Riverside Art Museum in downtown Riverside. Those selected for the residence program get to stay at the park for two to six weeks in rustic cabins.

Artists such as Adams were the first to record the visual beauty of the American West, leading to the preservation of landscapes that ended up in the national park system.