The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today struck down an illegal permit that would have allowed Avenal Power to build a new gas-fired power plant in Avenal, Calif. In 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a permit for the project that illegally waived its need to comply with air quality safeguards. Had this permit gone through, the plant would have been built in one of the most polluted and economically disadvantaged areas of the San Joaquin Valley.
In today’s ruling, the court admonished the agency, saying the applicable Clean Air Act statute “does not permit EPA to waive … requirements whenever it finds it convenient to do so.”
“This is a great victory for our communities that already suffer too much from pollution,” said Maricela Mares Alatorre, Kettleman City resident and member of El Pueblo. “This decision should convince the company to drop this polluting project.”
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The senate office charged with investigating state agencies recently found that the Department of Toxic Substances Control has failed to live up to its mission in several key areas. This report comes more than a year after three state senators ordered an investigation into allegations that the DTSC is falling down on the job and putting polluters before public health and the environment…
Relief is finally now in sight for the community of Seville in Tulare County and its water.
For years, the small town has been plagued with contamination issues in its water.
Thanks to ‘The Valley Drought of 2014’ and a last-minute deal between Tulare County and the state construction on a new well is now underway.
Seville residents like Sally Kimble say there isn’t any water to drink, much less cook with or bathe…
Beginning in June 2009, environmental justice groups brought several controversial lawsuits against California’s climate change program, sparking concern in the mainstream environmental community that the actions would frustrate the state’s climate progress and discourage other states from taking action. This essay, prepared for the University of San Diego’s symposium on “California in the Spotlight: Successes and Challenges in Climate Change Law,” does not pass judgment on the decision to sue. Instead, it uses the lawsuits as a jumping off point for understanding the environmental justice critique of California’s cap-and-trade program, a key feature of the state’s implementation of its climate change law.
Ultimately, the environmental justice lawsuits offer two primary lessons: (1) the value of a holistic approach to climate change policy that recognizes and integrates its multiple dimensions, including co-pollutant implications; and (2) the potential weaknesses of cap-and-trade as a climate policy tool. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the decision to sue or with California’s use of cap-and-trade, the essay is intended to offer a constructive path forward by moving beyond conflict toward a deeper understanding of the lawsuits’ merits….
On Wednesday, July 16, U.S. EPA Director of Environmental Justice, Matthew Tejada, joined organizations in the valley as they showcased some of the many stories of injustice that exist here. The tour coordinated by U.S. EPA Region 9 and CCEJN provided a full day of resident meetings and travel to specific locations with the hope of covering as many topics as possible. Although the visit was very productive, we all made sure to tell EPA that “one day is not enough to cover all of the stories that are important in the valley, give us a week next time!”…
It’s not clear if Governor Jerry Brown and his challenger Neel Kashkari will debate each other this fall. But if they do, there should be no doubt about the proper location for any and all debates: the San Joaquin Valley.
In this very quiet California election year, it’s fitting that our state’s most overlooked region has emerged as the center of every single major debate about California’s future. As we fight over high-speed rail and water and prisons and fracking and unemployment, we are really debating the future of the San Joaquin…
If you ever travel on Highway 5 between Northern California and Southern California, as you pass the exit signs for small Central Valley towns or stop for gas and food…towns like Kettlemen City or Arvin, or exit signs for other highways that take you across the Central Valley to places like Modesto, and you may wonder about these places. What is their history? What is it like to live in one of these towns? On this segment, we learn about current and historical environmental justice struggles of towns along Highway 5 and its tributaries, particularly in the Central Valley. One resource we’ll discuss is Invisible 5, a free, podcast audio tour that is downloadable at invisible5.org. The podcast, which was produced in 2006, is a self-guided audio tour of Highway 5 in the form of a museum audio guide.
Two weeks ago, the San Joaquin Valley Air District spread misleading and dangerous information to the public by claiming that the connection between asthma and poor air quality simply didn’t exist…
Communities and advocates secured a huge victory on June 15, 2014 with Governor Brown signing into law, through SB 861, the transfer of California’s Drinking Water Program (DWP) from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). This action is the culmination of many years of focused and relentless advocacy by community residents from the Central Valley and throughout the state – many of whom have long suffered without adequate safe drinking water resources…
In the Bay Area oil port city of Martinez, where a colossal Shell refinery has long tainted the air, the landmark California law that requires polluters to ease their carbon footprint seemed to some to promise new relief.
But one big move by Shell to comply with rules on greenhouse gas emissions won’t do much for Martinez. It will instead give a boost to the environment in the pristine Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where the oil company is helping preserve a 200,000-acre forest.
California regulators are satisfied the forest project will be a sponge for greenhouse gases, helping reduce global warming. It doesn’t matter that the trees grow nowhere near California.
Advocates for the local community heatedly disagree…