Let’s breathe new life into EJ communities through smart Prop 39 investments
Tell Governor Brown to support SB 39 and invest Prop 39 in the hardest hit communities!
Terry Flores-Lopez has lived on the Westside of San Bernardino all her life. Her neighborhood is surrounded by industry, including a natural gas facility and a giant BNSF rail yard. She noticed that students at the school her children attended had very high rates of asthma. Together with other residents in the area and with the help of CEJA member Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, they were able to install high performance air filters at 5 local schools and a community center, cutting the pollution by 90 percent. As they installed the filters, they conducted a health study and found that nearly half the surrounding community has asthma.
Terry proudly explains: “That’s 4500 students that don’t have to breathe pollution everyday they’re in school!”
Tell Governor Brown to follow Terry and CCAEJ’s example: target Proposition 39 money into schools that need it the most! Terry Flores-Lopez and her school on the Westside of San Bernardino need smart, strategic investments to ensure their neighborhood can become a Healthy Hood: a thriving community that no longer suffers the hidden health impacts of our dirty energy economy and has local, green jobs that power the economy of the future. But Governor Brown is threatening the investments from Prop 39 that can help transform EJ communities into Healthy Hoods, and we need your support to fight for smart Prop 39 investments TODAY!
CCAEJ sponsors a billboard on air quality in San Bernardino
Senator De Leon is working to invest in the health and bottom-up greening of our hardest hit communities through SB 39. This bill would allocate Proposition 39 money to low-income schools for deep energy efficiency retrofits. Proposition 39 money can help breath new life into our most vulnerable communities that have been impacted by pollution and blocked from economic opportunities.
Prop 39 is generating millions in new dollars for California by closing an out-of-state tax loophole. If Proposition 39 money can get out the door, schools can lower their energy bills – roughly $700 million per year – and free up money for basic needs.
Governor Brown doesn’t want to see these strategic investments in hard hit communities! Rather than targeting these funds to schools that need it the most, Governor Brown is proposing to spread the funds too thinly across many schools, regardless of the need or income levels. This means many schools get a small amount of money, while those most in need do not have enough to cover energy efficiency projects or create jobs.
As California greens our economy, we need to start from the bottom-up – at the local level, in the communities that have borne the historic brunt of our fossil fuel economy. With smart policies like SB 39, we can help ensure that all Californians grow up in Healthy Hoods!
Tell Governor Brown today to help breathe new life into EJ communities through smart Prop 39 investments!.
