In recent years, Gov. Jerry Brown has signed groundbreaking legislation establishing the most ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in North America, and he has been praised globally for his environmentalism and his efforts to curb global warming. But at home – and elsewhere — he faces opposition to some of his environmental policies…
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.
Grist recently spoke with Senator Ricardo Lara about his childhood playing baseball in the cinders of a railyard, his reasons for focusing on sickness and death rather than the abstract “environment,” and why we should all start “waving the super-pollutant flag.”…
In September of 2014, the Kern County Board of Supervisors approved the project with the expectations that it would create more jobs and bring millions of dollars into the local economy. But a judge in Fresno placed the project on hold until a new environmental-impact report can be created…
The environmental impact report clearing the way for daily trains of Bakken crude oil to roll into Bakersfield from North Dakota to be refined has been tossed out by the California 5th District Court of Appeal…
The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones and other publications have touted Governor Jerry Brown and other state officials as the “resistance” to Donald Trump’s pro-oil industry policies in recent articles, but the reality on the ground is much different. In fact, the oil industry in the single largest corporate lobby in Sacramento — and dominates spending on lobbying every legislative session…
Plans to bring hundreds of rail tankers of volatile crude oil through downtown Bakersfield every day have been put on hold by an appeals court that cited the risk of catastrophic explosion. Environmentalists argued against the expansion of the Alon USA refinery on Rosedale Highway and Fruitvale Avenue on several grounds, including the risk of environmental damage or catastrophic fire caused by accidents…
A coalition of concerned citizens, environmental groups and health and safety advocates were claiming victory Tuesday after the California Court of Appeal in Fresno found two errors made by the County of Kern in certifying an environmental impact report that would have allowed the Alon Refinery in Bakersfield to unload more than 100 rail cars of crude oil per day…
Groups Stop Rail Terminal Expansion That Would Increase ‘Bomb Train’ Traffic and Degrade Air Quality
A coalition of concerned citizens, environmental groups, and health and safety advocates successfully challenged the approval of a massive refinery and rail project that will further harm air quality in the San Joaquin Valley and subject residents in several states to the catastrophic risks of a derailment involving scores of tanker cars filled with explosive Bakken crude oil…
The University of Washington study, published in September, found that exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), a key transportation-related pollutant, is highly influenced by race more so than income, age or education…
The Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN) asked that I provide an expert opinion about the public health and environmental significance of levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a sample of ambient air that was collected at the intersection of Towner Drive & Nelson Court in Arvin, California, at around 7:00 p.m. of October 30th, 2017…