Jon Christensen

"There's a big day coming, I can hardly wait." Yo La Tengo at Pappy & Harriet's.

Delighted to share some very, very big and good news. The Court of Appeal ruled in our favor directing Metro to decertify the EIR for billionaire Frank McCourt's gondola to Dodger Stadium. Read all about it here: mailchi.mp/stopthegondo.... And join us to save the park and the historic heart of LA.

Earth Day in the high desert.

Glad to be back on my bike for the first time since my ill-fated ride of January 28. Happy to report that everything seems to be in working order after 10 miles along Ballona Creek.

Our Environment + Justice Donor Circle at Liberty Hill Foundation got a perceptive, useful, cautionary, and hopeful "Environmental Justice Landscape Update for SoCal and Beyond" from Angelo Logan and Sean Hecht today. Interested? Ping me, or check us out here: www.libertyhill.org/form/environ...

Back to California.

Ursula Heise champions storytelling in the face of the environmental crisis Ceremony in the 6th edition of the Biophilia Award with lecture by laureate Ursula Heise: Environmental Futures and the Challenges of Biophilia

Ursula K. Heise champions the power of storytelling to strengthen social awareness in the face of the global environmental crisis during her Biophilia Award lecture at the Fundación BBVA in Madrid. www.biophilia-fbbva.es/en/noticias/...

Ursula Heise, pionera en humanidades ambientales: “El aviso del desastre funciona solo si se combina con una visión de lo que se puede hacer” La catedrática de la Universidad de California en Los Ángeles incide en que “es imposible no cambiar o una vuelta al pasado”

Ursula Heise, pionera en humanidades ambientales: “El aviso del desastre funciona solo si se combina con una visión de lo que se puede hacer.” Incide en que “es imposible no cambiar o una vuelta al pasado." Interview in El Pais today. Ping me if you'd like a PDF.
elpais.com/clima-y-medi...

As seen on the street in Madrid today. Looking forward to the talk and celebration tomorrow at the Fundación BBVA!

If, like me and Ezra Klein, you're interested in a progressivism that can get things done and build things, join us for a discussion about the missing piece in Klein's new book "Abundance" — strategies to organize, build power, and win. April 2, 5:30pm Pacific: www.libertyhill.org/form/liberty...

The war on science is here. Kim Stanley Robinson says it’s just the beginning Widely regarded as the greatest living sci-fi writer, he’s spent decades crafting visions of the future. Now, he warns that a real dystopia is unfolding.

The war on science is here. Kim Stanley Robinson says it’s just the beginning. Widely regarded as the greatest living sci-fi writer, he’s spent decades crafting visions of the future. Now, he warns a real dystopia is unfolding, in a talk to our Lab for Environmental Narrative Strategies at UCLA.

Environmental Futures and the Challenges of Biophilia - Biophilia

"Environmental Futures and the Challenges of Biophilia," a lecture by Ursula K. Heise and presentation ceremony of the 6th Biophilia Award in Environmental Humanities and Social Sciences on March 27 at 7pm at the Fundación BBVA in Madrid: www.biophilia-fbbva.es/en/eventos/e...

Trump Can’t Kill California Values Right now, we need to invest in lifting up low-income communities that have often been abandoned in times of trial.

"Trump Can’t Kill California Values," a guest essay by Sissy Trinh and me, at LA Progressive: www.laprogressive.com/los-angeles-...

LA Launches National Park Equity Model As the national park ranking of Los Angeles plunges year after year, access to green space is at the heart of the problem.

"LA Launches National Park Equity Model," a story by Selen Ozturk at Ethnic Media Services, on our briefing on the city's launch of a best in the field park needs assessment that will run through this year: ethnicmediaservices.org/greening-com...

Feels like summer here....

"Los Angeles Asks Residents to Help Plan the Future of City’s Parks," a story by Sophie Craypo on the city's new park needs assessment, part of our collaboration with Ethnic Media Services covering urban greening with translations in Spanish, Chinese, Korean: ethnicmediaservices.org/environment/...

We're excited to be bringing Kim Stanley Robinson back to UCLA to talk about "Optimism, Optopia, and Climate Change Stories" on March 6 from 2 to 5pm. Join us: www.ioes.ucla.edu/event/optimi...

Paper titled "Examining facilitators and challenges to implementing equitable green space policies: Lessons from Los Angeles County"

Happy to share a paper published in print in the Journal of Urban Affairs. @jonchristensen.bsky.social and I found that the implementation of equitable green space policies is another key step in achieving tangible equity outcomes. We identified several facilitators and barriers in LA County

I'm so sorry I'm going to miss this because of my bike accident this week.

Futuros medioambientales y retos de la biophilia - Biophilia

If spring break finds you in Madrid, join us in celebrating Ursula K. Heise's Biophilia Award from the Fundación BBVA on March 27 for a discussion of "Environmental Futures and the Challenges of Biophilia" followed by cocktails: www.biophilia-fbbva.es/eventos/futu...

I've been working my way through Aldo Leopold's "A Sand County Almanac and Sketches from Here and There" in preparation for moderating this conversation about "The Land Ethic" and Ojai Valley conservation next Saturday, February 1, sponsored by the Agora Foundation and Ojai Valley Land Conservancy.

Opinion | There Is No Way to Retreat From the Risk of Wildfires Some more realistic ways to think about the challenges ahead.

Excellent op-ed on Mike Davis' "Case for Letting Malibu Burn" and finally not just agreement, but a clear-sighted alternative vision by our outstanding UCLA colleague Liz Koslov @koslov.bsky.social:
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/19/o....

Home from Lisbon after a wonderful trip to Portugal over the holidays and fall quarter in Ghent, Belgium. Full gallery at www.facebook.com/jon.allan.ch...

The no-build (until-we-need-to-build-something-fast) games LA could leverage this ordinance to make it easier to create new public spaces, public bathrooms, and even public housing leading up to 2028

The gondola's CEQA analysis was challenged in court by the LA Parks Alliance, but struck down by a judge.

For yesterday's story I spoke to Jon Christensen, founder of the LA Parks Alliance, who says their appeal is in process and a trial could happen next year

www.torched.la/the-no-build...

"There was no opportunity for community members to voice their concerns other than a form that asked them to list the concessions they wanted in exchange for the gondola permanently ruining the park."

Here's that form: lastatehistoricparkgpa.com/pdf/Forms/LA...

bsky.app/profile/awal...

December 20, 2024 California State Park and Recreation Commission P.O. Box 94296 Sacramento, CA 94296 SPR.Commission@parks.ca.gov lastatehistoricparkgpa@parks.ca.gov CC: Governor Gavin Newsom Armando Quintero, Director, California State Parks Liz McGuirk, Deputy Director, California State Parks Wade Crowfoot, Secretary, California Natural Resources Agency Violet Wright, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom Nathan Barankin, Senior Advisor, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom Nicole Arnaiz, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom Ryan Baukol, Advisor, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom Re: L.A. Aerial Rapid Transit Public Comment Process for Los Angeles State Historic Park General Plan Amendment Dear State Park and Recreation Commissioners and State Parks Staff: Our coalition of community organizations, neighbors, and environmental activists is writing to express our alarm at the apparent bias in the outreach and information-gathering process regarding the consideration of an amendment to the general plan of Los Angeles State Historic Park to accommodate Frank McCourt’s gondola project. Thus far, this process has been opaque and misleading. Last month, California State Parks staff held two informational meetings in coordination with Frank McCourt’s LAART and Zero Emissions Transit. The first meeting was held at Union Station on a Saturday morning. The venue was set up in a way that limited its capacity and forced the community to wait in line for an hour. Supporters of the project who were fed breakfast and bussed in rushed the entrance and got in first. Some community members who had to wait in line outside the venue left in frustration and were unable to register their concerns. Furthermore, there was no opportunity for community members to voice their concerns other than a form that asked them to list the concessions they wanted in exchange for the gondola permanently ruining the park.

There was no discussion of whether or not the disruption of the park by the gondola would impact them or if it was even wanted. The virtual meeting was no better. It was a mere dog and pony show that didn’t allow discussion of the project. In addition, an arbitrary deadline for public comment of December 15 has been set. Why is so little time allowed for the public to voice its concerns? This entire process appears rigged, and State Parks staff are ushering in the project as though it were a fait accompli. This is unacceptable. The California State Park and Recreation Commission is responsible for administering, protecting, and developing Los Angeles State Historical Park for the benefit of the public. Using public parkland and airspace for the benefit of a private business is illegal under California Public Resources Code and sets a dangerous precedent that would allow for the commercialization of state parks completely unrelated to the purpose of the parks. The general plan amendment process should not presume that the project will be built. It should fairly study the impacts the project would have on the park, which were not fully studied in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that LAART prepared and Metro certified, and it should analyze the laws that forbid such a use of a state historic park. The EIR deferred these important analyses to State Parks and the general plan amendment process. Thirty years ago, a coalition of diverse interests and communities came together to prevent the land known as the “Cornfield” in L.A. from being used for commercial development. Now, State Parks appears to be on the verge of ruining the park that was created as a place of respite in a community with little green space or recreational opportunities.

The Commission has a duty to protect our state parks, not to ensure a private project proceeds without due diligence. This shameful one-sided process is operating as if the gondola were a done deal and community members have heard State Parks staff say the gondola is going to happen even before the public process is complete. We urge you to restart the public input process for the general plan amendment and create opportunities for an honest dialogue about the project’s impacts, the law, and whether or not the gondola should be built in the park. We are available to meet with staff at a convenient time to discuss our concerns about this project and the public input process. Sincerely, The LA Parks Alliance and a long list of logos from many local groups in support of the letter

In order to accommodate the proposed Dodger Stadium gondola, Los Angeles State Historic Park requires a general plan amendment from the state.

28 organizations sent a letter to state officials yesterday to "express alarm" about how California State Parks is managing the engagement process

The two cultures meet again

My review of "Reframing Dioramas: The Art of Preserving
Wilderness" @nhmla.bsky.social just came out in the jorunal Science alongside reviews of five other exhibitions in
@gettymuseum.bsky.social's "PST ART: Art & Science Collide": www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Planting a Greener, Cooler Future in Los Angeles | EMS More than 4,250 trees will be planted as a front line against climate change, and an opportunity for workforce development and environmental justice work.

LA folks, next time you pass a tree, consider what that tree gives: shade, cooling, calming, a moment of stillness in this manic world. Think, too, of the hands that planted it, knowing it would be there for future generations. @jonchristensen.bsky.social
ethnicmediaservices.org/greening-com...

Thankful on this day for this stimulating conversation with a multidisciplinary group of students and researchers at Ghent University's Green Hub today about "Science and Its Stories," and diving deeper into how we can all tell the stories that our times need.

How Brunch Came to a Backyard Farm in Compton It was once a vacant, weedy lot next to a school. Now, it provides fresh produce and a twice-monthly meal to customers.

"How Brunch Came to a Backyard Farm in Compton." A beautiful story by Meghan McCarron and Adali Schell @nytimes.com Headway Initiative. Thrilled that our Environment + Justice Donor Circle at Liberty Hill Foundation is supporting Alma Backyard Farms this year. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/h...