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…
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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.
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…
On Thursday, Assemblymember Adam C. Gray (D-Merced) announced the Inland California Healthy Communities Act, which creates a sustainable funding source for clean drinking water, establishes a new University of California medical school in the San Joaquin Valley, and directs additional funds to the UC Riverside School of Medicine, all while allocating millions of dollars for public education…
Unrelenting commutes. Lost construction jobs. A statewide economic shudder. Prepare for all three if California loses its clean air battle with the Trump administration. That’s the warning from state transportation planning agency officials, who say the ongoing fight over passenger vehicle standards might cause collateral damage to road and public transit projects. That could affect air quality, construction jobs, the economy and, as projects designed to improve flow are delayed, ensure Californians stay stuck in traffic…
José Hernández has two plastic barrels in his front yard, filled to the brim with water collected during the recent rains. Half a dozen buckets, a trash can and a cooking pot sit close by, nearly overflowing. It should be enough for Hernández to tend to his garden for the next few weeks — and slight relief for a water bill that sets him back $130 to $170 each month. A retired farmworker, Hernández, 64, supports his wife and two daughters primarily on a $950 monthly Social Security check….
José Hernández has two plastic barrels in his front yard, filled to the brim with water collected during the recent rains. Half a dozen buckets, a trash can and a cooking pot sit close by, nearly overflowing. It should be enough for Hernández to tend to his garden for the next few weeks — and slight relief for a water bill that sets him back $130 to $170 each month. A retired farmworker, Hernández, 64, supports his wife and two daughters primarily on a $950 monthly Social Security check….