June 25, 2015
For Latinos, and for me, climate change is a personal issue. Many of us live near high-traffic or industrial areas, where our children are forced to inhale noxious exhaust fumes and smog. According to the California Environmental Protection Agency, California’s top ten percent most polluted zip codes are over two-thirds Latino—these include the communities of Bell Gardens, Pico Rivera and Montebello. Three of the ten most polluted zip codes in the state are in Los Angeles County, in my district and includes the city I grew up in and currently live.
Dangerous exposure to pollution in our air, water and land is in part why Latinos experience 30 percent higher asthma rates than whites. The consequences are far-reaching and long lasting. Exposure to environmental contaminants play a role in the likelihood of conditions such as cancer, diabetes and obesity—all issues that disproportionately affect the Latino community. A study by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that prenatal exposure to certain pollutants can reduce white matter in the brains of children and lead to poorer performance in school and hyperactivity.
As a result of the state’s limits on pollution, cancer-causing toxins in the Los Angeles basin have been reduced by 65 percent. But even as we’ve made significant headway in implementing California’s climate change legislation, much more work needs to be done to get its benefits to the areas that need it most. Too few of the benefits have trickled down into our latino communities.
Many of the benefits of climate change legislation have only begun to trickle down to communities in southeast Los Angeles, which continue to suffer from unacceptable levels of pollution as well issues such as higher unemployment rates and a lack of public transportation.
In particular, California’s government leaders have a responsibility to make sure that the revenues generated by AB 32’s cap and trade program—which will eventually total in the billions of dollars—are invested in our state’s most disadvantaged communities.
We can improve the implementation of AB 32 in places like Assembly District 58, where every penny matters. Policymakers need to come together and set aside a significant percentage of that money to invest it in ways that ensure the environmental benefits, quality jobs and energy savings are felt in the communities that need it most.
