An environmental justice coalition called the Association of Irritated Residents (not making that up) has sued to stop implementation of California’s AB 32 climate program, and it looks like they’ve won the first round. A judge has ruled that the state’s Air Resources Board didn’t fully consider alternatives to the cap-and-trade portion of the program. The launch, slated for January 1, 2012, is in limbo.
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.
Alongside the sprawling grove of pistachio trees at Nichols Farms near Fresno, a 6-acre solar-panel installation is now up and running.
The 1-megawatt concentrating photovoltaic project, built by Bechtel Power Corp. and featuring SolFocus technology, is being called the first of its kind in the agricultural Central Valley.
Despite concerns that date back to the early days of emissions trading, a U.S. EPA program that lets coal-fired power plants buy and sell the right to pollute hasn’t hit poor people and minorities with dirtier air than everyone else, according to a new study (pdf).
Several of the bloggers on Legal Planet have been commenting extensively on the recent California court decision that will block the California Air Resources Board from moving forward with its AB 32 Scoping Plan and related regulations. I’ve provided links below to a series of our posts on this decision.
Does containing climate change come at the expense of poor people and people of color in California? According to a statewide coalition of environmental justice advocates, the answer is yes. Therefore, they have sued the the California Air Resources Board over the way the state proposes to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
A California court ruling suspending the implementation of the state’s landmark climate change law came with a large dose of irony.
That’s because San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith found that the state had failed to comply with another landmark law, one that is beloved by some of the same environmental groups that are critical of the ruling, the California Environmental Quality Act.
Over the last two years, I’ve been part of several Playback Theater performances designed to honor environmental justice advocates and share their stories. Not as an actress, mind you, but as someone helping to bring together the actors, activists and audience so the magic can happen.