We know our communities are hit first and worst by the impacts of climate change and air pollution, and today the fight for climate justice has never been more urgent. 

Together, we're making incredible progress for climate justice in our communities. Click here to learn more about our goals and visions for climate justice in the region for the next few years.

Here are three ways EHC proudly leads this effort in the San Diego/Tijuana region.

Our focus is unique.

EHC is the only binational environmental justice organization in a cross-border region with a population of nearly five million people. This gives us a responsibility to speak up for climate issues in our communities.

Our communities deserve better.
Everyone has a right to live, work and play in a healthy and safe environment. With grassroots advocacy, we lift up the community voice and, together, urge our leaders to prioritize social equity in their response to climate change.

We are setting a precedent.
We have worked directly on energy and climate issues for more than a decade, and on air pollution issues for more than 30 years. In 2008, we launched a new campaign to focus specifically on climate justice. Thanks to the momentum we’ve built, our grassroots advocacy efforts have secured local, regional and state policies that protect the most impacted communities from the effects of climate change. We hope these policies can serve as models for similar regions throughout the country.

Learn more.
Click here to learn more about our progress to address dangerous impacts of climate change in our communities.

Located in San Diego County’s second oldest city, Old Town National City remains a primarily low-income Latino neighborhood with evolving surroundings. Over the past 50 years, the community has changed from a mainly residential neighborhood to a mixture of auto-related businesses located around schools and homes. Auto-body shops in residential neighborhoods burden the health of the community by emitting toxic pollution into the air we breathe.

In 2005, our community decided to combat conflicting land use and bring health back to the community with a vision for a vibrant and toxic-free neighborhood. Our plans included affordable housing within walking distance of a transit center, construction that wouldn’t damage Paradise Creek and a healthy community park to replace polluted grounds.

After 11 years, the community’s vision has become a reality. Today, if you walk by the 24th blue line trolley station on 22nd street in National City, you will see 201 affordable Paradise Creek Apartment Homes under construction by Community Housing Works and Related California. Most recently, the project was awarded $9.2 million by the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Grant through California’s Cap-and-Trade program, which you can learn more about here. The first phase of construction will be completed in 2016 and 109 families will move into homes in December 2016.

This project, spearheaded by the community voice, has received recognition across the country including a national award from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Most importantly, the Paradise Creek Apartments set a precedent for low-income communities nationwide. National City neighbors identified the community’s needs and remained involved every step of the way.

Now, it’s your turn. Learn to become a leader in your community and make your voice heard to build a better environment to live, work and play in, because everyone deserves a healthy neighborhood.

By: Carolina Martinez, policy advocate at Environmental Health Coalition

La semana pasada se graduaron del SALTA Lideres alrededor de 30 personas en nuestra oficina en Tijuana. La mitad son mujeres residentes de la comunidad, madres de familia que empujan a sus seres queridos cada día para seguir avanzando y creciendo. La otra mitad profesionistas en temas ambientales, activistas, periodistas y gente de toda la ciudad dedicada a buscar sistemáticamente el desarrollo sustentable en la ciudad.

Estamos felices de haber podido hacer este SALTA en la comunidad del Chilpancingo porque desde el 2007 no habíamos tenido la oportunidad. Pero estamos más contentos porque esto nos conecta. Nos sigue conectando con la comunidad, con los aliados y nos hace más fuertes y con raíces más profundas y extendidas.

Ahora tenemos la oportunidad de crecer y de seguir las reuniones para seguir trabajando por la Justicia Ambiental en las comunidades que les es más urgente.

Last week, more than 100 community members joined a public workshop in Barrio Logan to tell the California Air Resources Board how climate change and air pollution impact everyday life in our neighborhoods.

Mary Rose, a local resident, said, “Our friends in Sacremento don’t live in our neighborhoods, and they don’t understand what’s going on here. That’s why we’re having this meeting – so everyone can hear what it’s like to live here.”

At a series of table discussions, we told the California Air Resources Board that our communities need improved transit options and better air quality. We described how our neighborhoods are hit first and worst by the impacts of climate change. We shared stories and brainstormed solutions. Now, our voices will be used to guide an update to statewide climate change policy.

Thank you for joining us on July 14. We are powerful when we come together to share, listen to each other and offer solutions to prioritize neighborhoods that need help the most.

To continue making your voice heard, join us to thank the Air Resources Board for visiting Barrio Logan and other low-income communities of color to build policy that we can depend on for #healthyhoods. 

If you use Twitter, please click here to thank our leaders.

Want to learn more? Watch, read and listen to Executive Director Diane Takvorian discuss the harmful impacts of climate change in our communities with KPBS and San Diego Union-Tribune.

On July 14, we have the opportunity to talk about an issue that’s impacted all of us: climate change. For the first time in history, the California Air Resources Board will host a public workshop in Barrio Logan to openly discuss the effects of climate change on our communities, and it’s up to us to share our stories and make our voices heard.

What we want the Air Resources Board to know:

• Our communities are hit first and worst by the impacts of climate change
• Air pollution increases our risk of health problems like cancer, asthma and other respiratory illnesses
• Harmful toxic pollution from transportation, shipyards and other industries should be strictly regulated
• Our neighborhoods need better access to renewable energy
• We need better transit, biking and walking options instead of bigger freeways

What happens next?

The Air Resources Board hosts several more workshops in neighborhoods of color across California and uses community input to revise state laws on climate change and update the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Our job is to ensure new regulations prioritize neighborhoods hit first and worst by climate change.

Are you in?

Invite your friends, family and neighbors to attend this history-making workshop to make your voice heard for environmental justice.

Thursday, July 14 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. at Cesar E. Chavez Campus – San Diego Continuing Education, 1901 Main Street, San Diego, 92113.

Can’t make it? You can still make your voice heard.

If you use Twitter, please join us in thanking the Air Resources Board for coming to Barrio Logan and tell them about issues our communities face.

• Tweet: Effects of #climatechange hit our communities hard. Thanks @AirResources for visiting #BarrioLogan to talk #climatejustice 
• Tweet: #Climatejustice in #BarrioLogan matters to me because my kids deserve clean, safe places to play. @AirResources @ARBespanol 
• Tweet: #Climatejustice means clean air, more transit options and renewable energy in our communities. @AirResources @ARBespanol