Originally published in the Equal Voice Newspaper on January 9, 2013

More parks and open space for families and children, and fewer diesel trucks spewing fumes into neighborhoods, were some of the biggest victories for the Environmental Health Coalition last year.

The coalition, works to protect public health threatened by toxic pollution in southern California.

Last year, the Environmental Health Coalition in San Diego, successfully shut down a Barrio Logan warehouse to stop its diesel trucks from polluting the air for nearby residents.

The neighborhood has one of the highest asthma rates, caused primarily, neighbors say, by pollutant-producing industrial businesses that are intermingled with homes, schools and parks.

The coalition also had a significant impact on the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan ‒ saving more than 40 percent of the land for parks and open space.

And in November, the California Public Utilities Commission adopted a number of the coalition's recommendations that will expand the reach of energy efficiency programs funded by ratepayers to low-income neighborhoods in San Diego.

The Environmental Health Coalition was started in 1980 as the Coalition Against Cancer. Since then, more information and awareness about relationship between serious health effects and the chemicals used in homes and workplaces has become available.

Thirty years later, Environmental Health Coalition has become a leader in the environmental justice movement and a resource for community-based organizations working on environmental health and justice, social justice, human rights, and environmental sustainability.