Photo: David McNew / Getty Images
The budget surplus of $97.5 million that the state of California has, is an opportunity to really invest in clean air and reduce pollution, consider environmentalists.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to accelerate and advance the technologies and clean transportation we need,” said Chris Chavez, deputy director of Coalition for Clean Air.
Said Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget is moving in the right direction, as he has proposed a package of about $,000 million for vehicles that produce zero emissions.
“It is possible that the negotiation of the transportation part will go beyond the 15 of June, which is the deadline to approve the budget.”
He stressed that they need to ensure that the money is available as quickly as possible for the communities that they need it the most.
In addition, he mentioned that there are many legislative efforts focused on environmental justice to ensure that there is more investment and empowerment in the communities that have long experienced contamination.
“It’s going to take a lot of effort, but we need to make sure we take positive steps to repair the damage by using legislation that empowers the community and gives incentives to those with low incomes.”
Chavez, deputy director of the Coalition for Clean Air, said he lives in West Long Beach, next to the freeway 555, so the contamination of the ports, feels very personal.
“I had asthma as a child; and also my cousin who grew up in the same neighborhood. It was taken for granted that children grew up with asthma.”
Noted that transportation is the number one cause of pollution in California, and of half of the greenhouse gases.
“The solid diesel particles are known to be carcinogenic and the main pollutant in the air, in addition to being responsible for about 70% of cancer risk”.
Stated that California is home to the dirtiest air in the nation; and the Los Angeles region has the worst pollution in the country and the San Joaquin Valley the highest amount of particulate pollution.
“Millions of Californians are breathing air that does not meet state and federal quality standards; And unfortunately, this burden falls heavily on low-income and minority communities because they are close to freeways and refineries.”
He indicated that all this contributes to a shorter life and a lower quality of life for the people who live in those communities.
“For example, those who live in East Long Beach have a life expectancy of 6 to 7 years more than those who live on the West; largely due to contamination”.
Luis Amezcua, campaign and policy manager of the Building Decarbonization Coalition, an organization that helps homes and offices have clean energy, said they focus on gas stoves, heaters and boilers that they burn fossil fuels and are a serious threat to health and the planet.
“In California, after transportation, buildings are the second cause of climate change”.
He explained that in recent years they have removed domestic gas appliances in an effort to decarbonize the community.
“ In California, minorities bear the brunt of indoor pollution. We need a strategy that targets low-income people to transition to clean buildings, so we can avoid at least 3 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2022″.
On the other hand, he mentioned that vulnerable communities live with inadequate or no air conditioning. “In Los Angeles, there are nearly 3 million out of 1 million households that do not have access to air conditioning, and 2.2 million are vulnerable to extreme heat.”
And he commented that in the governor’s budget proposal, there are close to a billion dollars for technologies that provide both heating and cooling for homes.
“We need to deploy a ton of these technologies to reduce emissions in our homes and workplaces.”