Despite its proximity to the city, West Park is unserved by infrastructure and services most urban Californians take for granted. The community lacks sidewalks, a sewer system, gutters, street lights, green space, and park space. The West Park community knew there had to be a better way. So residents formed a community group called Los Olvidados (The Forgotten) to tackle the community’s most pressing needs…
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.
At its meeting last week on California’s climate change goals, the California Air Resources Board discussed a shift in the way it will set climate change goals through regional plans. At the same meeting, the board adopted a plan on how it will achieve new climate change targets set by state law…
Several groups who came together with the “Association of Irritated Residents” won their appeal of a trial court decision that approved the Kern County plan with Alon USA Energy to double the volume of local oil refinery Nov. 21 in the California Fifth District Court of Appeal. Judge Donald R. Franson, with Justices Gene M. Gomes and Rosendo Pena concurring, ordered the trial court to reverse its approval of the project, and bring the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) into compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)…
On Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) unanimously approved the new Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) Program, voting to create a new solar rebate program for low-income and disadvantaged communities as directed by a 2015 law…
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) unanimously approved the new Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) Program, voting yesterday to create a new solar rebate program for low-income and disadvantaged communities. This $1 billion program provides up to $100 million annually for ten years to incentivize installations of solar on multifamily affordable housing properties across California…
The 2017 Climate Change Scoping Plan that the California Air Resources Board governing panel adopted at its Sacramento meeting charts a path to shrinking statewide emissions to 260 million metric tons by 2030. Statewide greenhouse gas emissions were 440.4 million metric tons in 2015, according to state data…
With the diverse mix of crops grown in the state and the complex nature of different farming systems, California farmers and their advocates told the State Water Resources Control Board that its one-size-fits-all approach to regulating water quality remains burdensome, expensive and infeasible for many farmers. They shared their concerns during a public workshop on a proposal to revise waste discharge requirements for the East San Joaquin River watershed that would have statewide impact on all irrigated lands regulatory programs…
The California State Water Resources Control Board has $9.5 million in grant funding available (Notice of Funding Availability) through the Drinking Water for Schools Program, which may be used to install water bottle filling stations or drinking water fountains, and for interim water supplies and treatment devices for schools where contamination is an issue. Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) are eligible to apply for these funds, including schools that serve kindergarten through 12th grade, and preschools and daycares that are located on school property…
Looking Back on 2017, the Community Water Center…
A movable water treatment system developed at UCLA fits in a shipping container and can be operated remotely with a smartphone. Yoram Cohen says the goal is to help small communities that lack the expertise to run traditional water treatment plants themselves…