Sen. Kamala Harris is just the latest example of a presidential candidate using a newly won Senate seat as a launching pad, but her political profile was built in California, a state where environmental and climate policy rank high on the agenda….
News
This page features excerpts from news about environmental justice advocacy in the San Joaquin Valley and links to their original sources. Use the features on the right to sort by topic, news source, date, key word or author. You may also subscribe to receive the news by e-mail or through an rss reader. Please note that links to original sources may expire over time.
Burning trash has a long history in the United States, and municipal solid waste incinerators have sparked resistance in many places. As an environmental justice scholar who works directly with low-income and communities of color, I see incineration as a poor waste management option….
In February of 2018, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra created the Bureau of Environmental Justice within the Environment Section at the California Department of Justice. The mission of this agency within an agency is “to protect people and communities that endure a disproportionate share of environmental pollution and public health hazards. This will be accomplished through oversight, investigation, and enforcement of the law,” the DOJ states…
A coalition of California residents affected by unsafe drinking water held a symbolic “water strike” at the Capitol on Wednesday, pressing lawmakers to fund a plan that would clean up their water sources. More than 1 million Californians lack access to clean drinking water, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration. An additional 2 million people are vulnerable to contamination, according to the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund Coalition. “We cannot claim to be the Golden State when we have 1 million Californians without access to clean and affordable water,” said Daniel Peñaloza, City Council Member from Porterville in Tulare County. “This is an injustice and a disgrace….
At first glance, retired farmworker Humberto M. Gomez appeared to have little in common with Pete Buttigieg, the boyish Midwestern mayor. But when Gomez buttonholed the presidential hopeful in a Fresno parking lot to vent about poverty and contaminated water in the San Joaquin Valley, the two men quickly bonded over a mutual sense of neglect…
Recently, the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency offered another boon to the fossil fuel industry and announced its intent to ignore the scientifically-proven impacts of air pollution on human health. By minimizing and outright denying the health risks of air pollution, the EPA is recklessly devaluing the lives of children and families who are assaulted daily by pollution and climate impacts that threaten their health, safety, and life expectancy…
Elizabeth Perez was only 10 years old when she moved with her family to the city of Bakersfield, in California. Almost immediately, she says, she began experiencing nosebleeds, headaches and difficulty breathing. Perez was in and out of a local health clinic for years, but doctors couldn’t quite pinpoint what was making her sick. Today, at age 24, she has a strong suspicion about the culprit. “I’ve seen a lot of people with the same symptoms in low-income communities located near oil and gas developments. And I think it’s pretty clear we’re being affected by heavy pollution,” she said…
When you paid your electricity and gas bills this month, there was a small line item for a “public purpose surcharge.” This surcharge was there last month, the month before that, and for every month you’ve ever turned on a light. The primary purpose of this surcharge is to ensure that no Californian is forced to live in cold and darkness because their families make too little money to afford a fundamental necessity of life…
This evening, Clean Water Fund, Blue Tomorrow environmental consulting, and the Central California Environmental Justice Network will co-launch seven air monitors in key locations across Lost Hills, California to monitor air quality for two years. The launch will take place at 14688 Lost Hills Road in Lost Hills, CA at 7 p.m. Clean Water Fund, in partnership with the Central California Environmental Justice Network and a Lost Hills resident advocacy group—“Comite Lost Hills En Accion” (Committee Lost Hills In Action) successfully pursued a community air grant from the California Air Resources Board to fund the air monitoring project…
Valley Improvement Projects, founding members of the California Environmental Justice Coalition (CEJC), represented for Stanislaus County and the San Joaquin Valley at this meeting with the newly appointed head of CalEPA, Jared Blumenfeld…