The new face of the Valley’s environmental movement

UPDATE: Read ‘People of color defend Earth’ here.

A new type of environmentalist has emerged in California, panelists said during an ethnic media briefing hosted by New America Media last Wednesday in San Francisco.

“People of color are the strongest environmentalists in the state of California,” said Roger Kim, executive director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, which fights for environmental and social justice in low-income Asian immigrant and refugee communities.

“You name the issue, people of color want the highest level of concern and also want stronger action from our government,” Kim said. “It’s the fact that Asians, blacks and Latinos are really bearing the brunt of the burden of environmental pollution in this state.”

That trend holds true in the San Joaquín Valley, too, said Sarah Sharpe, Environmental Health Director at Fresno Metro Ministry. “The communities that bear the brunt of our pollution are getting involved because they don’t want to put up with it anymore,” Sharpe said.

Regional poll results from the Public Policy Institute of California’s July 2011 survey, ‘Californians and the Environment,’ further underscore this shift in the environmental movement. According to the poll:

• 35 percent of Valley Latinos and blacks, and 21 percent of Valley whites, believe air pollution is a very serious health threat to their families and communities;
•  57 percent of Valley Latinos and blacks, and 28 percent of Valley whites, believe air pollutions is a more serious health threat in low-income areas;
• 60 percent of Valley blacks and Latinos, and 45 percent of Valley whites, support the state government addressing the issue of global warming, separate from the federal government.

So who are the faces of the Valley’s environmental movement?

Rebecca Quintana, of Seville, won the regional EPA’s 2010 Environmental Justice Champion award for her efforts to improve drinking water quality in Valley communities.

Magdalena Romero, of Kettleman City, and Maria Saucedo, of Avenal, became strong advocates of environmental justice after their babies were born with birth defects and died.

The members of Latinos United for Clean Air traveled to Sacramento last year to push for improved air quality in the Valley.

Concerned Citizens of West Fresno is asking the City of Fresno to force Darling International to obtain a conditional use permit for its rendering facility.

Herminia Arenas, of Líderes Campesinas,  pushed for pesticide buffer zones, and protections against pesticides, in Madera County.

Read more about the changing face of the environmental movement in an upcoming edition of Vida.