Check out the EPA’s EJ blog post on Green Zones: New Strategies for Environmental Justice: Green Zones By Amy Vanderwarker As a long-time environmental justice advocate, I have seen many inspiring victories, and witnessed residents across the country fight for healthy and livable environments. But in far too many communities where I work, the same challenges continue to exist: large polluting facilities that define neighborhoods, more diesel truck traffic, fewer jobs, and rising rates of asthma. What we don’t see is the large-scale change that environmental justice communities need. Facing this reality, the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) developed a new approach. In 2010, we launched the “Green Zones for Economic and Environmental Sustainability” initiative and we have been seeing results! The heart of this effort is to transform neighborhoods that are toxic hotspots and pockets of concentrated poverty and unemployment into healthy, thriving “Green Zones.” Green Zones are neighborhoods or communities where we partner with stakeholders to reduce pollution, revitalize communities, and attract clean businesses. For example, In San Francisco, CEJA member PODER has led people-powered planning efforts to ensure equitable partnerships with city agencies and community participation in decisions about development on publicly owned lands. As a result, the Public Utilities Commission transferred a large underused lot in San Francisco’s Mission District, which will now be transformed into green space and affordable housing. In National City, just outside of San Diego, CEJA member Environmental Health Coalition kicked off their Green Zones project with a door-to-door campaign to find out what residents wanted to see in their neighborhood. The organization then ran an intensive planning process to help community members re-envision their streets, businesses, housing, parks and schools. The resulting plan includes a process to phase out the 30-plus auto body shops that surround the local elementary school and explores relocating them to a green industrial park nearby. And, CEJA is currently collaborating with EPA Region 9 to implement Green Zone solutions in seven model projects throughout California. Green Zones offer a new approach to tackling the complex environmental, social and economic issues facing low-income and minority communities, which is why it is being adopted across the country as a model for environmental justice. On April 23, 2012, AB 1990, the “Solar for All” bill (by Assembly Member Paul Fong and sponsored by the California Environmental Justice Alliance) passed out of the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee with a vote of 9-4. Solar for All has received broad support from environmental groups, social justice groups, business groups, solar groups, and the Asian Pacific Islander community. “Solar for All” heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee in May. Check back in with CEJA for the latest updates! Click here for the Solar For All Fact Sheet. California Watch has done a great piece on CEJA’s Solar For All bill, AB 1990 (Fong). CEJA has already collected 80 letters of support, but we need them to keep coming in….so send one in as soon as possible (sample letters and instructions here). Our bill goes to committee on Monday April 23rd! California Solar Energy: Bill Would Provide Renewable Rooftops To Poor Communities By Bernice Yeung San Diego is home to more than 2,600 solar residential rooftops – more than any other California city – but in the neighboring lower-income community of National City, there are only about a dozen. A bill [PDF] before the California Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce this month seeks to equalize renewable energy installation in the state by promoting small-scale solar rooftops in the disadvantaged communities. The bill targets neighborhoods with high unemployment rates and those that “bear a disproportionate burden from air pollution, disease, and other impacts from the generation of electricity from the burning of fossil fuels,” the bill said. Bill author Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-Mountain View, said the legislation would create jobs and build “cleaner, safer, and healthier neighborhoods. “Unfortunately, California’s most vulnerable communities – those that have suffered first and worst from pollution – have not benefited much from existing renewable energy policy,” Fong said in a statement provided to California Watch. The legislation would require the state to install enough systems to produce 375 megawatts of renewable energy – or about 1,000 small-scale projects – in disadvantaged communities between 2014 and the end of 2020. Utility companies are required by a 2011 state law to achieve a 33 percent renewable portfolio standard by 2020. The renewable energy systems supported by Fong’s bill would take the form of rooftop solar installations on apartment complexes and commercial buildings, and each project would be limited to producing 500 kilowatts of power, a project the size of a typical Costco rooftop. Advocates say passage of the bill could improve both the health and economy of these low-income communities. Through a program known as “feed-in tariff,” the owner of the solar panels would be able to earn revenue by selling back unused energy to the local utility company. Additionally, the bill promotes the hiring of local workers to install the solar panels. And because reliance on carbon dioxide-emitting power plants used during periods of high energy demand – called peaker plants – could be decreased with an increase in renewable energy creation, there are health implications to the bill, said Strela Cervas of the California Environmental Justice Alliance, which sponsored the legislation. “Peaker plants are those that are polluting our communities the most,” Cervas said. “We see (the bill) AB 1990 as the first step to address the health crisis in these communities.” Michael S. Hindus, an attorney with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman who has represented clients who developed small- and utility-scale solar projects, as well as solar rooftop owners, said he supports the expansion of rooftop solar. He believes a feed-in tariff system will make the small projects more feasible. He said he hoped that the benefit of the easy-to-implement feed-in tariff is not offset by hard-to-implement environmental justice goals. “The uncertainty,” Hindus said, “is how to meet the social justice and environmental justice criterion which are set forth in the bill. As it goes through the legislative process, the ease of implementation will need to be balanced with the environmental justice goals.” To determine which communities would meet the environmental justice criteria, the bill sponsors point to an environmental justice screening method developed by professors at UC Berkeley, the University of Southern California and Occidental College. This screening method weighs environmental health risk factors, like air quality, and social factors, like income and age. Neighborhoods in cities like National City, Richmond in the San Francisco Bay Area, Huntington Park in southeast Los Angeles and the Central Valley’s Tulare would qualify. Private utilities like San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric have not yet taken a position on the legislation. Spokeswomen for Southern California Edison and PG&E said they are reviewing the bill. Although the California Municipal Utilities Association “supports the State’s goal of increasing distributed generation,” the association’s spokesman, Patrick Harbison, said in a statement that the organization is concerned that the bill will result in higher bills for some customers. Bernice Yeung is an investigative reporter for California Watch, a project of the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting. Find more California Watch storieshere. CEJA is offering a great opportunity to get hands-on experience in the field of environmental justice and build skills in event planning. Intern with CEJA this summer and be a part of planning the 2012 Grassroots Climate Justice Convening. Download the internship description or see below. California Environmental Justice Alliance Internship The California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) is offering an exciting opportunity for a motivated individual to get hands-on event planning experience, work with some of the leading environmental justice organizations in California, and participate in an exciting Grassroots Climate Justice and Renewable Energy Convening alongside community residents, organizers, and environmental justice advocates from across California. We are seeking an intern to help with planning and logistics for a Grassroots Climate Justice Convening in August 2012. The intern will work directly with CEJA’s Co-coordinator out of CEJA’s Oakland office. About the 2012 CEJA Grassroots Climate Justice Convening CEJA will be hosting a convening on August 15th – 16th in Sacramento, CA. The convening will bring together approximately 120 residents from environmental justice communities throughout California, organizers and advocates from the CEJA member organizations, and allies. The two-day convening will include coalition-building activities, strategy sharing about climate change and renewable energy work throughout California, and a session on CEJA’s Green Zones Initiative. The two days will culminate with a training and grassroots lobby day for CEJA’s bill, Solar For All (AB 1990), which if passed will help build small-scale solar projects in low-income communities and communities of color throughout California. Internship overview: CEJA is seeking an Intern who can assist with the following areas of work related to the planning and coordination of our 2012 Grassroots Climate Justice Convening: Desired qualifications: The Intern is asked to make a minimum commitment of working with CEJA from the start of June through the end of August, and to meet a number of work hours agreed upon in advance, ideally around 8 per week. We are offering a $1,000 dollar stipend. CEJA has an office within our member organization Communities for a Better Environment, located at 1904 Franklin Street in downtown Oakland. It is near the 19th Street BART station and multiple bus lines. The office is wheelchair accessible. CEJA’s Solar for All bill (AB 1990, Asm Paul Fong) needs your support. The bill will be heard in the Assembly Utilities and Commerce committee on April 23rd. Please send in a letter of support today! We need your support letters! Below is a sample. Please fax it to (916) 319-2151 by MONDAY APRIL 16th and send a copy to CEJA Co-coordinator Strela Cervas, scervas@caleja.org. TEXT OF SAMPLE SUPPORT LETTER: Assembly Member Steven Bradford Chair, Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce State Capitol, Room 5136 Sacramento, CA 90301 Fax: (916) 319-2151 Re: AB 1990 (Fong) – Solar for All – SUPPORT Dear Assembly Member Bradford and Committee Members: On behalf of [insert organization], I write to express our strong support for AB 1990 by Assembly Member Paul Fong, the Solar For All Initiative. [insert your org’s mission/short description]. California leads the way in developing robust renewable energy policy with the potential to create thousands of green jobs. Unfortunately, California’s most vulnerable communities – those that have suffered first and worst from dirty energy industries and nearby power plants – have not benefited from existing renewable energy policy. AB 1990 helps address this gap by creating a pilot program to install solar in the most impacted and disadvantaged communities through clean energy contracts (long-term, fixed rate contracts) with a preference for local hire. AB 1990 creates local green jobs, revitalizes neighborhoods, and gives people some control over their energy future. AB 1990 will ensure that disadvantaged communities are not left behind in the new green economy. We urge your support for AB 1990 when it is heard in your committee. Sincerely, [YOUR NAME] cc: The Honorable Paul Fong, fax (916) 319-2122 Check out the latest CEJA newsletter and read about our exciting efforts to get small-scale renewable energy into low-income communities and communities of color and get the latest updates on the Green Zones Initiative! Click here to view the e-newsletter. CEJA is excited to be a Co-Convenor for the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference in LA on March 15th & 16th. Roger Kim, ED of APEN, and Bill Gallegos, ED of Communities for a Better Environment, will both be speaking. Learn more about the conference here! Please join us for the BlueGreen Alliance’s 2012 Good Jobs, Green Jobs Western Regional Conference from March 15-16 in Los Angeles.The conference will bring together hundreds of business, labor, environmental, elected and community leaders working throughout the West and around the country to promote, preserve, and build coalitions that create good jobs and preserve our economic and environmental future. Join the nation’s leading forum for building a green economy and creating good, green jobs and register today. The overall goal of this convening is to develop alignment on values and a unified voice on policies related to the Governor’s pledge of 12,000 MW of renewable distributed generation. Participants will include representatives from a broad range of stakeholders who have an interest in helping the state to develop a distributed generation system that is efficient, equitable, helps California to achieve the goals of AB 32 for reducing GHG emissions, and stimulates economic development and jobs for the state’s low income communities. Following the event, the Environmental Health Coalition will lead a Tour of Environmental Injustice to Community Uprising where community members will show how the built environment affects the community’s health. For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 12, 2012 Contact: Will Rostov, Earthjustice, 415-217-2000, wrostov@earthjustice.org Rory Cox, Senior Energy Consultant, Pacific Environment, 510-459-0933,rory.cox61@gmail.com Deborah Behles, Golden Gate University School of Law, Environmental Law and Justice Clinic, 415-442-6647, dbehles@ggu.edu Shana Lazerow, Communities for a Better Environment, 510-302-0430 x 18slazerow@cbecal.org California Regulators Add Teeth to Landmark Clean Energy Policy Public Utilities Commission orders utilities to use renewable sources before electricity from fossil fuels San Francisco – The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted unanimously today to strengthen a key clean energy policy in California called the Loading Order. The Loading Order sets a priority list for electricity sources. California’s utilities must first employ energy efficiency and conservation to meet customer demand; then energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal. Only after all those supplies are exhausted may the utilities purchase power from fossil fuel plants. The CPUC already requires the state’s three investor-owned utilities–Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison–to obtain certain minimum amounts of electricity through energy efficiency, demand response resources and renewables. Before today, the big energy companies ignored the Loading Order once they had met these other state-required targets. The Commissioners ordered a halt to that practice, writing in their decision, “While hitting a target for energy efficiency or demand response may satisfy other obligations of the utility, that does not constitute a ceiling on those resources for purposes of procurement.” “The Public Utilities Commission has confirmed what Californians have already come to understand; burning oil and gas to make electricity is bad for our health and bad for our environment,” said Earthjustice attorney Will Rostov. “It should be a last resort instead of business as usual.” Environmental groups who made the case for this clarification applauded the decision. Rory Cox, Senior Energy Consultant for Pacific Environment said, “The Loading Order could be a powerful tool to put thousands of Californians to work building the power grid of the future while reducing pollution. This decision makes it crystal clear to the utilities that clean energy should always come first.” Pacific Environment is represented at the CPUC by the Golden Gate University School of Law, Environmental Law and Justice Clinic. Sierra Club California is represented by the public interest law firm Earthjustice. “Saving energy and using it efficiently is a priority for most of us, and it should be for the power companies as well,” said Jim Metropulos, Senior Advocate with Sierra Club California. “Common sense tells us that we should use all energy efficiency, wind and solar power we can get, and California is well-suited to provide these renewable resources.” “Today’s decision should check the utilities’ routine response - to deploy massive new power plants and transmission,” said Shana Lazerow, an attorney for Communities for a Better Environment. “If correctly implemented, the loading order can help our efforts to bring about an energy system that looks first to the most sustainable, least harmful sources to power all of California’ communities.” In spite of the orders to shift reliance to energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and other clean energy strategies, the utilities have built or are building numerous large, natural gas power plants while falling behind on their clean energy mandates. According to the California Energy Commission, the state has about 30 percent more power than needed on peak energy days, and the CPUC anticipates they will be 60 to 80 percent over-built by 2020, should current trends continue. This clarification of the Loading Order was made as part of the CPUC’s Long TermProcurement Plan (Rulemaking 10-05-006). This proposed decision as adopted is here:http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/ #### Read CEJA’s latest newsletter to find out what we have been up too. Check out this new video describing the amazing campaign to defeat Proposition 23 that CEJA helped lead! Read the great article below on Communities for a Better Environment’s Green Zones pilot project, the Clean Up Green Up campaign. Wilmington activist Jesse Marquez can rattle off a list of projects that are proposed or under review in and around the port community – from new storage tanks and pipelines to a massive rail yard. And that’s in addition to the existing industrial uses that have long defined Wilmington, including oil refineries and drilling operations, shipping container storage and auto repair and salvage sites. And so Marquez is among those throwing his support behind a proposed pilot program designed to offset some of the negative environmental effects of heavy industry in Wilmington and two other local communities. The so-called Clean Up Green Up initiative – which won support in January from the Los Angeles City Council – is expected to start making its way next year through the city bureaucracy. On Tuesday, residents and others will have a chance to learn more and offer their feedback at a 6 p.m. meeting at the Wilmington Senior Center. Marquez’s Coalition for a Safe Environment – he’s the executive director – organized the event along with the group Communities for a Better Environment. “We have the cumulative effects of new projects and existing projects,” Marquez said of Wilmington. “We just can’t take it any more. It’s just too much to handle. … What we’re saying is, we need to be able to declare certain communities environmental justice protection zones.” That’s essentially the goal of the Clean Up Green Up strategies being considered for Wilmington along with Boyle Heights and Pacoima – all characterized as “toxic hot-spot” areas that have an overabundance of polluting businesses in mostly low-income communities of color. Research has shown that poor air quality can lead to an increase in premature births, low birth-weight babies, lung disease and cancer, among other ailments. The Clean Up Green Up initiative could provide financial and other incentives to businesses that propose making changes – whether it be replacing old equipment or pursuing a complete rehabilitation plan – and require that community benefit projects be a part of the equation. In addition, Clean Up Green Up could suggest new land-use rules for businesses moving into the areas and existing ones that want to expand. Another goal: to encourage the growth of “green” industries, such as renewable energy firms, in these so-called hot spots. “We’d like to see this kind of new infrastructure get into our communities,” said Bill Gallegos, executive director of Communities for a Better Environment. “These communities have been hammered, and there’s been kind of a piecemeal approach” to dealing with the adverse environmental effects, he said. In Wilmington in particular, Gallegos said he’s heard “a lot of concerns with truck traffic … a lot of concerns about 24-hour operations, oil drilling, noise.” The Clean Up Green Up strategy was developed with feedback from community members and has gained allies in city government, Gallegos said. The motion that received council support in January was presented by Councilman Jose Huizar, who represents Boyle Heights, along with Councilmen Richard Alarcon and Tony Cardenas and former Harbor Area Councilwoman Janice Hahn. In an email from his spokesman, Huizar said he presented the motion after he was approached by the Los Angeles Collaborative for Environmental Health and Justice concerning environmental issues in Boyle Heights. Formed in 1996, the collaborative is made up of four community groups, including Gallegos’ CBE and Marquez’s coalition. While the specifics of the policy are still being worked out, Huizar said the Clean Up Green Up campaign is not meant to be adversarial, but aimed at finding “cleaner, greener ways to improve business while helping sustain our neighborhoods in a healthy and clean environment for years to come.” He said his office plans to reach out to businesses, chambers of commerce and trade groups as the program evolves. The council motion – which directed staff to develop recommendations on how to implement Clean Up Green Up – has since been referred to the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, along with the Jobs and Business Development Committee. Huizar said it is expected to move to those council panels early next year. kristin.agostoni@dailybreeze.com Want to go? What: Meeting concerning the Clean Up Green Up pilot program targeting three “toxic hot-spot” communities, including Wilmington Where: Wilmington Senior Center, 1371 Eubank Ave. When: 6 p.m. Tuesday Read CEJA’s latest newsletter to find out what we have been up too. Check out this new video describing the amazing campaign to defeat Proposition 23 that CEJA helped lead! Read the great article below on Communities for a Better Environment’s Green Zones pilot project, the Clean Up Green Up campaign. Wilmington activist Jesse Marquez can rattle off a list of projects that are proposed or under review in and around the port community – from new storage tanks and pipelines to a massive rail yard. And that’s in addition to the existing industrial uses that have long defined Wilmington, including oil refineries and drilling operations, shipping container storage and auto repair and salvage sites. And so Marquez is among those throwing his support behind a proposed pilot program designed to offset some of the negative environmental effects of heavy industry in Wilmington and two other local communities. The so-called Clean Up Green Up initiative – which won support in January from the Los Angeles City Council – is expected to start making its way next year through the city bureaucracy. On Tuesday, residents and others will have a chance to learn more and offer their feedback at a 6 p.m. meeting at the Wilmington Senior Center. Marquez’s Coalition for a Safe Environment – he’s the executive director – organized the event along with the group Communities for a Better Environment. “We have the cumulative effects of new projects and existing projects,” Marquez said of Wilmington. “We just can’t take it any more. It’s just too much to handle. … What we’re saying is, we need to be able to declare certain communities environmental justice protection zones.” That’s essentially the goal of the Clean Up Green Up strategies being considered for Wilmington along with Boyle Heights and Pacoima – all characterized as “toxic hot-spot” areas that have an overabundance of polluting businesses in mostly low-income communities of color. Research has shown that poor air quality can lead to an increase in premature births, low birth-weight babies, lung disease and cancer, among other ailments. The Clean Up Green Up initiative could provide financial and other incentives to businesses that propose making changes – whether it be replacing old equipment or pursuing a complete rehabilitation plan – and require that community benefit projects be a part of the equation. In addition, Clean Up Green Up could suggest new land-use rules for businesses moving into the areas and existing ones that want to expand. Another goal: to encourage the growth of “green” industries, such as renewable energy firms, in these so-called hot spots. “We’d like to see this kind of new infrastructure get into our communities,” said Bill Gallegos, executive director of Communities for a Better Environment. “These communities have been hammered, and there’s been kind of a piecemeal approach” to dealing with the adverse environmental effects, he said. In Wilmington in particular, Gallegos said he’s heard “a lot of concerns with truck traffic … a lot of concerns about 24-hour operations, oil drilling, noise.” The Clean Up Green Up strategy was developed with feedback from community members and has gained allies in city government, Gallegos said. The motion that received council support in January was presented by Councilman Jose Huizar, who represents Boyle Heights, along with Councilmen Richard Alarcon and Tony Cardenas and former Harbor Area Councilwoman Janice Hahn. In an email from his spokesman, Huizar said he presented the motion after he was approached by the Los Angeles Collaborative for Environmental Health and Justice concerning environmental issues in Boyle Heights. Formed in 1996, the collaborative is made up of four community groups, including Gallegos’ CBE and Marquez’s coalition. While the specifics of the policy are still being worked out, Huizar said the Clean Up Green Up campaign is not meant to be adversarial, but aimed at finding “cleaner, greener ways to improve business while helping sustain our neighborhoods in a healthy and clean environment for years to come.” He said his office plans to reach out to businesses, chambers of commerce and trade groups as the program evolves. The council motion – which directed staff to develop recommendations on how to implement Clean Up Green Up – has since been referred to the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, along with the Jobs and Business Development Committee. Huizar said it is expected to move to those council panels early next year. kristin.agostoni@dailybreeze.com Want to go? What: Meeting concerning the Clean Up Green Up pilot program targeting three “toxic hot-spot” communities, including Wilmington Where: Wilmington Senior Center, 1371 Eubank Ave. When: 6 p.m. Tuesday
May 8, 2012
EPA features Green Zones work
April 25, 2012
Solar for All (AB 1990) Passes out of Committee!
April 19, 2012
Solar for All in the news
April 13, 2012
Intern with CEJA
To apply, e-mail your resume and cover letter detailing why you want to intern with CEJA and your experience with environmental or social justice work to Amy Vanderwarker: avanderwarker@caleja.org. Please put “CEJA Internship” in the subject line. Feel free to contact Amy with any questions at (510) 302-0430 x 13.
April 3, 2012
Support Solar For All!
March 13, 2012
March news from CEJA
February 23, 2012
CEJA co-convening Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference
January 24, 2012
CEJA to Host Stakeholder Convening and Event at Smart Growth Conference
The California Environmental Justice Alliance and the Sierra Club are co-hosting a Distributed Generation Stakeholder Convening in Los Angeles on Thursday, January 26, 2012.
CEJA is hosting a Green Zones event in conjunction with the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference on Thursday, February 2 at 8:00am in San Diego.
Read how Communities for a Better Environment helped to strengthen key energy policy in California!
December 3, 2011
Read CEJA's newsletter & watch the No on 23 video
Wilmington activist backs Clean Up Green Up proposal
December 3, 2011
Read CEJA's newsletter & watch the No on 23 video
Wilmington activist backs Clean Up Green Up proposal
News Archive
Many of California’s most vulnerable communities have not seen the benefits of our booming green economy, yet have suffered the most from the health effects of nearby power plants & dirty energy industries. Meanwhile, high unemployment and high poverty rates continue to soar. Disadvantaged communities deserve to be part of the green economy too. Solar for All (AB 1990) will promote development of rooftop solar in disadvantaged communities, creating real opportunities that produce new jobs, and build cleaner, safer, healthier neighborhoods. Read the Solar For All Fact Sheet.
More about the conference:
By Kristin S. Agostoni Staff Writer, Daily Breeze
Posted: 11/27/2011 06:04:12 AM PST
By Kristin S. Agostoni Staff Writer, Daily Breeze
Posted: 11/27/2011 06:04:12 AM PST