Putting lipstick on a pig in Avila Beach

July 19, 2025

OPINION by MANDY DAVIS

Now don’t misunderstand me, I love piggies (especially the little baby oinkers) as much as anyone, but you have to admit, the phrase “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig” is really apropos when it comes to the offshore wind industry and their efforts to bamboozle the public into believing that its good for the economy, totally benign for the environment, and will be California’s answer to its future energy needs.

There have been countless instances of this “adorning of the beast” in the past in the form of industry dog and pony shows and bought-off NGO’s railing on the necessity of the technology to save us from climate change. Bull pucky! Not to mention our governor himself, who has made offshore wind proliferation in California his pet (yes, he does seem to like projects rather beastly in nature) project.

But recently, I have been noticing the efforts by local politicians to skirt the real issues that offshore wind presents,. They have disavowed themselves as longtime proponents of offshore wind energy in our state, and told the public that nothing is decided, nothing is clear, that it’s all just up in the air.

This paints the ugly face of port industrialization with not just a nice rosy hue of lipstick, but one step further by adding a nice foundation of concealing powder and goo.

San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg happens to be one of the first public issue cosmetologists that comes to mind. She’s been taking lessons from the folks at the Pacific Offshore Wind Conference yearly.

Just recently, in an Avila Valley Advisory Council (AVAC) meeting regarding the pending industrial marine terminal, folks were apprised of not just the cosmetic changes to their community but the traffic, economic, environmental and safety impacts that they would be experiencing.

At the end of the meeting, Ortiz-Legg demurred holding the position that it had nothing to do with all the folks at AVAC and the community they represent, and that it was nothing to be concerned about and that studies were in process. Not once have I ever heard her be transparent enough to affirm her definite position as a longtime supporter and active proponent of the industry, and that she is catering to a handful of union workers that will get good paying, temporary jobs constructing an industrial port.

Ortiz-Legg is not sufficiently representing the community as a whole, instead she is adeptly painting the pig and side stepping her role as a responsible leader in the process.

It’s about time the communities of Avila Beach and Port San Luis realize the misrepresentation they have unwittingly been part of. It is time for their communities to inform themselves and find out what having an industrial port in their small community will do to everyone for decades to come.

Look it up online – industrial offshore wind ports ain’t pretty, no matter how much paint and powder you put on ’em

Do yourselves a favor, check out the REACT Alliance website, and investigate on your own. What is under all the hype and lipstick is appalling!. Its time to strip the deceptive makeup off the pig and realize, what Ortiz-Legg is selling is only a pig that’s been adeptly sold to the public to embrace.

Its as simple as this – a beautiful, vibrant and healthy home is what we all really want, and offshore wind has no place in that picture, even if the pig smiles real pretty at the camera.

My sincerest apologies to my porcine friends. I hope you will forgive me for referring to you in such unlovely ways. It was done in the spirit of making a most valid point. Alas. It could be that in the final analysis, you are the better of our two species.

Mandy Davis is the president of REACT Alliance and a Morro Bay resident. REACT Alliance is a local organization established to educate and inform the public about the issues involved with offshore wind.