Chispa Archives - League of Conservation Voters

Chispa and the People’s Climate Movement 2018

This past weekend, more than 250,000 people rose for climate, jobs, and justice, at over 800- town halls, rallies, and community events that took place from coast to coast.

Our Chispa programs throughout the country were there, demanding clean air, clean water, and healthy futures for low-income and communities of color whose lives, on a daily basis, are deeply affected by environmental, social and economic injustices.

Take a look at some of the events we participated in:

In Phoenix, nearly 100 Arizonans gathered to plant seeds in a community garden. Chispa Arizona and their partners discussed how workers’ rights, migrant rights, climate justice and issues of equity are connected, linking the struggles of immigrant and labor communities in a collective fight for a healthier, better future.

Meanwhile, Chispa Connecticut knocked on “Thousands Doors for Justice,” with volunteers joining a statewide effort to register voters and share updates from the Clean Energy for All campaign. Chispa Connecticut also participated in a rally in New Haven, calling for justice and aid for Puerto Ricans, who are still suffering the aftereffects of Hurricane Maria. Communities across Connecticut are calling on local leaders to commit to building a 100 percent clean, renewable energy world that puts people and justice before profits. There was even a 60-foot long “fossil fuel dragon” breathing fire into the movement!

In Las Vegas, Chispa Nevada partnered with community organizations to host an art walk featuring local artists’ works that focused on the climate and health issues Nevadans face and how together, people can fight for a safe and habitable planet for families and future generations. The art walk provided a space for communities to begin to heal from the injustices they have endured, so that they can continue moving forward.

In Denver, Colorado’s Protegete joined a dozen community partners to host a rally and series of workshops about embarking on a just and equitable transition to 100 percent renewable energy across the state. The events lifted the voices of workers and communities of color most impacted by climate change and pollution. Climate Nexus produced this great video on the events — check it out:

Meanwhile in Albuquerque, Juntos: Our Air, Our Water specifically addressed the need to advance the climate, jobs and justice movement to the next phase: meaningful climate action that is committed to obtaining and preserving racial and economic justice for all, especially workers, indigenous peoples, frontline communities and immigrant communities who are working to transition from the fossil fuel industry to a clean energy future.

LCV Chispa Welcomes New York’s Commitment to Clean Buses

Washington, D.C. – On the news that New York state plans to invest its $127 million Volkswagen settlement fund in clean vehicles, including a priority for “replacing old diesel-powered school buses with new, all-electric school buses,” Johana Vicente, National Deputy Director for Chispa, a community organizing program of the League of Conservation Voters, released the following statement:

“New York’s plan to use Volkswagen settlement funds to invest in electric vehicles demonstrates that state governments are listening to the thousands of parents, youths, and advocates who have called for clean, zero-emission transportation options that won’t pollute the air our children breathe. We welcome this ambitious commitment to electric school buses and call on governors across the country to follow New York’s example in putting our kids first.

“This plan’s promise to reduce pollution in low income and communities of color also responds to the repeated demand from Chispa and our partners at the local, state, and national level, like the New York League of Conservation Voters, to focus funding on where students and families are most at risk of breathing dirty air and disproportionately carry the burden of pollution.

“We congratulate the New York League of Conservation Voters on their hard work and success organizing with thousands of New Yorkers through the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign, and we look forward to their continued work with Governor Cuomo and the Department of Environmental Conservation to prioritize children’s health by converting dirty diesel-fueled school buses into clean, zero-emission electric school buses first.”

For more information on the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign, please visit www.cleanride4kids.org.

For Latino families, like mine, protecting vehicle emission standards means taking care of our children

*This article originally ran in Spanish on Univision

As the mother of one of the 6 million children across the country who suffer from asthma attacks, I was devastated to learn that the Trump administration is moving forward with its plan to throw America’s clean car standards in reverse. Rolling back these standards would pollute our air, force families to spend billions more dollars on gas, and could even put lives at risk.

My son William was just recently diagnosed with asthma, following his first asthma attack. He’s three years old. William is an energetic toddler, full of life, and seeing him struggle to breathe was heart-wrenching. Thinking that our family might have to see him suffer again breaks my heart.

Emily Zamora and her son William, who was recently diagnosed with asthma

By rolling back federal clean car standards, the Trump administration is putting the wishes of auto lobbyists over people — and over children like my son. Not only will these rollbacks increase the pollution in our air, but they will also undercut our nation’s response to climate change. In the United States, the transportation sector recently became the largest source of the carbon pollution fueling climate change. Undoing these standards will expose millions of Americans to more climate-changing carbon pollution and jeopardize our health.

Knowing the pollution that comes from diesel vehicles, my family and I joined Chispa Nevada’s Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign to transition diesel school buses into electric school buses that won’t pollute the air our son breathes. That’s why it’s important to us that leaders in our states, and in Washington, D.C., not only commit to making our buses cleaner, but also oppose President Trump’s plan to gut vital standards that make our cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs pollute less.

Rolling back the clean car standards will lead to more tailpipe pollution, which has been linked to many health problems, including the asthma my son suffers from. But it’s not limited to asthma: William and other children like him are at elevated risk of developing heart and lung problems from breathing in dirty air. And Latino families like mine will pay the steepest price.

Latinos and other communities of color are already more likely to live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution. Compared to non-Hispanic white children, Latino children are twice as likely to die from asthma. For African American children, it’s even worse. They’re 10 times more likely to die from asthma. Protecting federal clean car standards means protecting the health of our children and the future of our communities.

In addition to the negative health impacts, rolling back clean car standards will mean that families like mine across my home state of Nevada — and our country — will have to spend more at the gas pump. The current standards could save consumers as much as $5,700 per car and $8,200 per truck over the lifetime of their vehicle. This is money we could spend on groceries, rent, medical bills, or child care. Every dollar we can save helps our family.

Instead of protecting these money-saving standards that are working to make our communities healthier, the Trump administration is working to line the pockets of their allies in the oil and gas industry. Trump’s reckless plan means that the most vulnerable among us will be hurt first and worst by dirty air, toxic water, and the increasing impacts of climate change.

The resignation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt in July was a step in the right direction. Now, EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler must commit to upholding the EPA’s mission to protect our health and environment. The EPA deserves a clean start, and that starts with Acting Administrator Wheeler respecting our environmental laws, making decisions guided by science, and putting our children’s lives ahead of special interests.

It makes no sense to deny our families cleaner air, vehicle cost savings, and healthier lives. My son William deserves a bright, healthy future, as does every child in America. It’s time that the Trump administration puts us first by protecting us from vehicle pollution.

A People’s Convening: Rally for Clean Air #CleanRide4Kids at the NGA 2018 Summer Meeting

Last month, more than 125 parents, children, activists, and supporters of the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign rallied and marched at the National Governors Association summer meeting in Santa Fe, calling on governors to prioritize children’s health by investing Volkswagen settlement funds in electric school buses.

This was a major milestone for our efforts to reduce air pollution by electrifying school buses. Our partners in Juntos: Our Air, Our Water; Conservation Voters of New Mexico; Chispa Arizona; Chispa Nevada; and Protegete came together with more than a dozen other national organizations to let governors know we must act now to help our children breathe clean air. We are seeing lawmakers across the country take notice, and we’ll keep fighting to make clean buses a reality for our families.

Take a look at highlights from the rally below, and if you haven’t already, make sure to sign the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños petition.

Herlinda Calderon, Mother Organizer and Promotora with Chispa AZ

“The saddest thing is that when I realized that dirty school buses were what were worsening my daughter’s asthma, worsening her breathing problems, people would come and ask me what people were doing to help us. No one was helping us, not until we started raising our voice.

Arizona’s Governor Ducey was able to put $38 million out of $57 million available towards retrofitting school buses. I want to tell Governor Ducey today that we’re not satisfied with that, we need more. Many more children deserve to lead healthy lives, and we need incentives for school districts to go electric. We need to completely eliminate diesel school buses from Maricopa County, from Arizona, from our communities.”

Herlinda has a daughter with asthma.

Martha Favela, Mother Organizer with Juntos: Our Air, Our Water

“I’d rather drive my three daughters to three different schools each morning than to have them ride in a diesel school bus. Even just dropping them off at school, we pass the buses idling and breathe in the diesel fumes. Children go to school to learn, not to get sick from pollution. I ask Gov. Martinez to use funds from the Volkswagen settlement to invest in electric school buses, because our families deserve to breathe clean air.”

Martha’s second daughter suffers from severe breathing problems, as does her husband, who drives diesel trucks for a living. Both have chest pains and cough through the night. Learning that other families face similar problems drove Martha to join Juntos as a volunteer and later an organizer.

Noe Orgaz, Protegete Organizer

“Our children are our most valuable asset, but pollutants like dirty diesel prevent them from developing a strong respiratory system. Children with asthma do not know why it is hard to breathe, and they should not have to worry about it. It is our responsibility to protect them.

Governors, you have the authority to ensure school districts acquire Electric School Buses that will improve our air quality. This is your opportunity to leave behind a legacy of promoting public health and protecting our children.”

Noe lives in Denver, CO with his daughter, who has been told by doctors she is at risk for developing asthma.

Alexa Aispuro, Chispa NV Promotora

“Latino communities are deeply affected by air pollution, more often living near sources of pollution and breathing unhealthy levels of dirty air. We are more likely to suffer from illnesses caused by our environment because of this. If we want this to change, we have to raise our voice and speak up. That is why I am here today to support the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign, so other kids like my friend Robert can access breathable air. I urge Governor Sandoval and governors across the nation to support this campaign and invest in electric school buses.”

Alexa’s best friend Robert has suffered from asthma for years, often missing school for doctor’s appointments because of his illness. He has riden diesel buses to and from school for years.

Celerah Hewes, Mom’s Clean Air Force New Mexico

“Today I speak on behalf of over one million parents who have joined Moms Clean Air Force, because protecting our kids from dangerous air pollution is essential to their future.

We have a nationally-embarrassing, Delaware-sized cloud of methane pollution hovering over northwestern New Mexico. However, over the last eight years, our state has been running in the wrong direction — weakening oil and gas air quality requirements at a time that we need stronger standards. New Mexicans deserve better. Our children deserve better. All Americans deserve reasonable clean air protections at the state and federal level that reduce pollution, and we can start with clean buses.

We demand our elected officials consider our climate and our children.”

Celerah is a mom in Albuquerque who organizes with Moms Clean Air Force.

Fighting for Healthier Communities: Chispa MD Speaks Up for Clean Car Standards

Johana Vicente, a community organizer for Chispa Maryland, spoke at a Clean Cars Press Conference about the impacts of transportation pollution on her community. Vicente was joined by Maryland attorney general Brian Frosh, and spokespeople from the Maryland Environmental Health Network, the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, and the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, with each group providing their own perspective on the importance of implementing Clean Car Standards.

As an organizer for Chispa Maryland, Vicente works closely with Latino families and leaders to ensure that their collective voice is powerful in protecting their communities and the environment. In many cases, that means fighting for important policies such as Clean Car Standards. As Vicente mentioned in her remarks, the current clean car standards are critical to reducing the pollution in our communities.

“Curbing pollution could not be more important in our fight against climate change. Transportation is the leading contributor to climate-disrupting pollution and as such we need policies like the Clean Car Standards to continue reducing pollution from the transportation sector.”

Although air pollution stemming from our transportation represents a serious public health concern for millions of people in this country, our nation is one in which cars are ubiquitous and often a crucial mode of transportation. Given our country’s reliance on cars, the administration’s ploy to reduce fuel efficiency standards, which are already underway and attainable, means ever-more unnecessary pollution in our air and, with rising gas prices, more strain on peoples’ pocket books.

In fact, 46.9 million people will travel at least 50 miles over this July 4th holiday. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the number of travelers has been steadily rising for the last five years and would represent the highest travel volume in the 18-year history of AAA tracking data. Nevertheless, the administration still plans to roll back the money-saving clean car standards that make driving more affordable and our air healthier.

And, like so many other environmental issues, low-income communities and communities of color bear an out sized burden of this air pollution.

“Working with Latino communities in Prince George’s County, I have seen the effects that air pollution has on our families and our communities. These are families who live in some of the most polluted areas of our state, surrounded by high trafficked areas as well as other sources of pollution.”

Vicente went on to share the stories of three people from Prince George’s County who are affected daily by transportation pollution.

“Tyrese Robinson is a concerned mother from Mount Rainier who has to deal with her daughter, Shawna Marie’s severe asthma attacks on a regular basis. This June, Shawna participated on her very first 5K as a proud member of her school’s Girls on the Run Program and as Tyrese shared, her daughter’s ‘major concern was not the strength of her legs but the strength of her lungs.’

Being undocumented, a student from a local high school has to wonder every single school day about whether riding dirty public transportation will trigger her asthma attacks. Having no access to health insurance, pollution does not only affect her health, but it also affects the economy of her entire family.

As concerned parents at their school, Candida and Edith are concerned about students missing school days due to respiratory conditions. As their principal shared, asthma is one of the most common causes of student absences in their school. Candida and Edith are concerned about students’ academic performance when they miss so many school days.”

And those are just a few of the stories. The impacts of air pollution extend far beyond Maryland as millions of people in the United States struggle with the very real consequences of dirty air.

“The burdens of air pollution are real and very common, and we need policies that will protect the health and well-being of communities. Tearing down successful and achievable climate change and air pollution protections endangers communities especially low-income communities and communities of color. We strongly oppose this administration’s attempts to roll back the Clean Car Standards. We need policies that continue to reduce air pollution and combat climate change. We do not want or need to go backwards.”

LCV Chispa Newsletter March-April 2018

Chispa is an organizing program of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV). We are dedicated to community organizing to build the capacity of communities of color to influence policy makers and pressure polluters to protect communities’ rights to clean air and water, healthy neighborhoods, and a safe climate for generations to come.

We focus on fighting the effects of climate change with and on behalf of the low-income and communities of color who are disproportionately affected by pollution. Last year, Chispa launched the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign, which is calling on elected leaders to invest in electric school buses, and will, in turn, protect our children from breathing dangerous diesel toxins. We’re also standing with immigrant and climate refugee communities, fighting to advance clean energy measures at the state and local levels, and holding lawmakers accountable so the needs and priorities of communities of color are front and center when policy decisions are made.

Here are some of the highlights of these efforts from the last couple months:

We are winning and protecting children

The Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign is gathering speed, as Chispa organizers continue to grow support among families, elected officials, government agencies, public health institutions, community organizations, and other local groups in each city and state.

After hosting our first webinar in late winter, state programs achieved several local victories this spring. Chispa Maryland worked with Councilmember Deni Taveras to pass a resolution at the Prince George’s County Council that calls on Governor Hogan to invest in electric school buses. Earlier this year, a group of 27 municipalities in the county passed a similar resolution. Prince George’s County is keeping up the pressure, and with one of the largest school districts in Maryland, it can — and will — lead the state’s transformation to an electric school bus fleet.

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, New Haven Public Schools’ Board of Education passed a resolution that unanimously supports replacing their diesel school buses with clean, electric buses. Thanks to the advocacy efforts of Chispa Connecticut, New Haven Public Schools plan to ask for bids from electric bus companies during their contract renewal this summer.

The New York League of Conservation Voters’ Adriana Espinoza toured electric school buses and filmed an informative video on the benefits of switching to clean, quiet, and safer zero-emission buses. Check out the video here.

New Mexico’s State Representative Patricia Roybal Caballero authored an op-ed in the Albuquerque Journal, calling on Governor Martinez to invest in electric school buses that won’t pollute the air our children breathe each day.

Following the release of the American Lung Association’s 2018 State of the Air report, which found that millions more people in this country are breathing dangerous levels of air pollution, Chispa programs are gearing up to host Asthma Summits to highlight the health risks of diesel and other types of fossil fuel pollution. Juntos in New Mexico has already hosted an Asthma Stakeholder Meeting with dozens of new and old allies. After the meeting, several new community groups pledged their support for the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign, and the New Mexico Department of Health has also committed to hosting more public events to learn about the campaign from local families.

Supporting Climate Refugees and Immigrants

The fight for environmental solutions and racial justice are inextricably linked. We stand with our immigrant and refugee brothers and sisters who deserve action from elected officials.

In Connecticut, Chispa Volunteer Da’kquie and Promotor Taylor Robertson secured co-sponsorships from two state representatives on a bill that provides funds for hurricane victims from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Chispa Connecticut volunteers also spoke at a rally for Puerto Rican families and called on state legislatures to match federal aid dollars to help climate refugees — who have been displaced and now reside in Connecticut — find jobs and provide for their families while their island home is rebuilt.

In Colorado, Protegete and Conservation Colorado joined dozens of allied community organizations in testifying against a bill that would have endangered public safety and put immigrant communities at risk of profiling and discriminatory policing practices.

Amplifying the Voices and Power of Grassroots Leaders of Color

Across the country, our promotores, youth activists, and grassroots activists are leading the way towards healthier, safer futures.

In early March, Chispa Arizona held a community retreat with 18 statewide leaders to discuss environmental justice, our common struggles, and the path forward. Leaders of color from state and regional movements shared lessons from their organizing work and helped our promotores listen to and learn from one another, getting ready to tackle the next organizing challenge.

Several of our team members were in the national spotlight this spring. Wildaliz Bermudez, Director for Chispa Connecticut, joined U.S. Congresswoman Barragán and other national Latina leaders for a telephone town hall with UnidosUS Action Fund. Rudy Zamora, state director for Chispa Nevada, was ranked one of this year’s top “50 Fixers” by Grist, a environmental publication that recognizes leaders working towards a sustainable planet.

The Juntos’ team graduated a new class of 11 promotores, including 5 youth promotores who plan to lead the charge for the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign in New Mexico. These promotores help recruit, train, and retain other local volunteers, from mothers to students.

Connecting Local Communities to their State Governments

Connecticut hosted its Youth Climate Action Day at the state Legislature in mid-April. Chispa Connecticut and the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters hosted six young people who spoke with their legislators about the importance of reducing greenhouse gases and fossil fuel pollution, increasing clean energy use and access to community solar gardens, and teaching climate science in public schools.

In mid April, Chispa Maryland co-hosted a candidate forum with the Langley Park Civic Association so local families could meet candidates and ask about their plans to protect the environment and invest in clean modes of transportation, like electric school buses for children. More than 65 community members and 15 candidates attended the forum.

Most Recent Report on Electric Buses

Our allies at Environment America and U.S. PIRG published an eye-opening and comprehensive report on electric buses, showing that they are cleaner, safer, and often cheaper than diesel buses. Read the full report: Electric Buses: Clean Transportation For Healthier Neighborhoods and Cleaner Air.

**Staffing News: National Director of Chispa Ernesto Vargas recently accepted an exciting new position at Friends of the Earth, an organization that LCV works with regularly. While we will certainly miss him and the great talent he’s brought to Chispa, we’re excited to see his next big accomplishments.

Give our kids a clean ride!

Chispa Newsletter January-February 2018

Chispa is a community organizing program of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV). Chispa builds the capacity of communities of color to influence policy makers and pressure polluters to protect communities’ rights to clean air and water, healthy neighborhoods, and a safe climate for generations to come.

As always, Chispa is working to change environmental injustices. Last year, we launched the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign to call on elected leaders to invest in electric school buses, which will protect our children from dirty diesel pollution. We’re speaking out for the Clean Power Plan, a pollution-cutting safeguard that Scott Pruitt’s EPA is trying to upend. We’re fighting for clean energy at state legislatures. And, we’re using LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard to hold lawmakers accountable. Across the country, Chispa is fighting for the environmental rights every community deserves.

Here are some of the highlights of these efforts from the past couple months:

Demanding an Investment in our Children’s Health

Across the country, members of our Clean Buses for Healthy Niños coalition have collected over 145,000 petitions and delivered over 35,000 petitions to their governors in five states, calling on them to invest their state’s Volkswagon settlement funding in clean, zero-emission school buses for our children.

The people involved in this campaign range from lawmakers to promotores to the children themselves—in Arizona, Oslin and Tonantzin, ages 10 and 9 respectively, made a special appeal for Santa Claus to bring electric buses to schools in their state, acting as the voice for millions of children of color who suffer from asthma at higher rates than their peers. You can sign our petition and ask others to join our campaign too. For more info, check out the website: http://www.cleanride4kids.org/

Sharing Resources for the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños Campaign

This past February, Chispa and our partners hosted a webinar where we shared resources on how schools can join the push for zero-emission electric bus fleets. Nearly a hundred school administrators, public health officials, transportation directors, and others attended the webinar, which included presentations from the Environmental Law and Policy Center, Sierra Club, and the University of Maryland. So long as teachers and mothers like Chispa volunteer Tyrese have to pull their children from school buses due to health complications, we’ll continue sharing resources for how to join this fight.

Advancing State Legislation for Electric School Buses

In New Mexico, Juntos testified before the State Legislature in support of their $18 million Volkswagen settlement funds to be used to purchase electric school buses. Thanks to the compelling testimony of mothers like Martha, a promotora with Juntos, and the advocacy of legislators like Representative Patricia Roybal Caballero and Senator Linda Lopez, the Senate committee passed the bill.

Meanwhile, in Arizona, Representative Charlene Fernandez introduced a similar bill. Joined by Chispa AZ families and supporters, Fernandez called on Governor Doug Ducey to make the right choice for Arizona’s children. Nearly 20 state representatives cosponsored the bill. Despite the House committee chair’s refusal to consider the bill, Fernandez is continuing the fight by asking people to participate in the public comment period for the state’s use of the VW settlement funding.

Defending the Clean Power Plan

We continued to fight for the Clean Power Plan (CPP), which Scott Pruitt’s EPA wants to end. Maryland legislators held a hearing, and along with allies from Moms Clean Air Force, GreenLatinos and LULAC, Chispa MD organizer Johanna testified about the importance of protecting the CPP. Johanna shared stories from her community—those of Maryland parents, teachers, students, and even her own mother—all of whom struggle with asthma and other illnesses because of the very pollution the CPP is meant to tackle.

Chispa AZ participated in National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Action Fund’s environmental roundtable with U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego to discuss the importance of community participation in fighting against the repeal of the CPP.

Fighting for Clean Energy

Chispa Nevada and Arizona joined efforts to require that by 2030, 50 percent of the energy generated by their state come from renewable energy like wind and solar. In Arizona, Chispa promotora and mother Herlinda spoke at a press conference about raising her daughter, who suffers from serious health issues including asthma, and lives in a neighborhood contaminated by fossil fuel pollution. She hopes that renewable energy will help phase out these pollutants. In Nevada, college students shared their concerns about our future, given the rapidly changing climate, and they cited renewable energy as a necessary part of the solution.

Holding Elected Officials Accountable with the 2017 National Environmental Scorecard

As part of the LCV family, Chispa is leveraging the recently published LCV Scorecard to inform communities which senators and representatives enable polluters, and which have the courage to stand up for the health of our families and world. Please read the scorecard here, available in Spanish, to see how your state’s congressional delegation ranked.

In Pursuit of a Clean Ride for Kids: Q&A with Tyrese Robinson, Maryland Mother and Educator

Maryland resident Tyrese Robinson is a special education teacher and mother of four. Chispa Maryland, a community organizing program of MDLCV, run in coordination with LCV, sat down with her to talk about diesel emissions and the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign – an initiative urging governors across the country to use Volkswagen (VW) settlement dollars for clean electric school bus fleets.

Tyrese Robinson stands in front of a diesel school bus in Maryland. Photo credit: Matt Roth for LCV

Q&A:
Chispa Maryland: What are your concerns with diesel school bus emissions, as an educator and parent?
Tyrese Robinson: As a special education teacher here in Prince George’s County, Maryland, I know firsthand that many of our children, particularly and disproportionately those of color, who are riding the buses, generally have to be on the bus for an extended amount of time. This doesn’t include the time that the bus is idling outside of the school during pick-up and drop-off.

Our children are literally packed into a box on these school buses where they are exposed to different kinds of harmful emissions which can trigger asthma, bronchitis and different allergies – or worse.

Chispa Maryland: Why are you so concerned about diesel emissions from school buses?
Tyrese Robinson: I have a daughter that was diagnosed with asthma within the last year and her asthma is very severe, landing her last year in the hospital on three separate occasions. And so as a parent, it’s important for me to be informed as to what her triggers are, so that I can try to alleviate them as best as possible. Diesel-powered school buses are one of them.

Chispa Maryland: Does she ride the bus to school?
Tyrese Robinson: She previously rode the school buses and I subsequently took her off of the school buses and had to look into private transportation for her.

Chispa Maryland: Why did you make that decision of switching her to private transportation?
Tyrese Robinson: Private transportation offered me a better quality of care with my children so that I can be more cognizant of their environments. Not only because of the emissions, but even just being on the school bus for two hours, that’s a really long time. And you couple that with the health concerns on top of that, and that’s just a recipe for disaster, especially for children who suffer with severe allergies and asthma as well.

Let’s save money for our communities, put this money back into our public schools, and ultimately give our children a healthy environment so they can learn and grow without worrying about these respiratory illnesses.

Tyrese Robinson with Chispa staff. Photo by Matt Roth

Protecting the Clean Power Plan: An organizer’s plea for her community

After being denied a public hearing by the Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency to share the need to protect the Clean Power Plan, Maryland leaders held a hearing Thursday, January 11, 2018. Here is the testimony delivered before a panel by Johana Vicente, Chispa Maryland’s community organizer. Announced on the same day, three additional February dates in other states were been set, along with a comment period extension to April 26th. Photo credit: Matt Roth for LCV

Good afternoon,

My name is Johana Vicente and I have been a resident of Montgomery County, Maryland for more than a decade. I stand before you today as a concerned community member and a proud organizer of Chispa Maryland, a community organizing program of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters growing the political power of Latinos for climate action.

I am here today to defend the Clean Power Plan – its protection is urgent to me and the communities that are most impacted by filthy air and industry pollution.

Often times, words like “climate change” and “pollution” seem very big and broad — terms that we cannot fully grasp. The issues may seem like a far away thing that is not really affecting us. However, it is affecting us more than we think.

I have witnessed the impact that environmental pollution has on the health of people, especially communities of color and children from those very same communities.

From meeting a concerned mother who is worried about whether her child with asthma will breathe to a concerned teacher with absent student who are home due to respiratory problems, the effects of environmental pollution are clear – they are real concerns.

On a personal level, as a child who had only lived in the United States a few years, I watched as my mother went to the hospital for the first time. Not because of an injury, but because of her inability to breath. There, in the hospital room, she was diagnosed with asthma only two years after we arrived in this country.

This is a painful memory that I still remember vividly to this day and it was one of the scariest ones I have.

Candida, a mother and powerful community leader in Hyattsville, had to navigate the medical system to treat her son’s severe asthma – all while speaking very little English. As the PTA president of her children’s school, she asked the principal what the leading cause of absences were and he listed respiratory problems as a main factor – unsurprising as it’s an area plagued by air pollution.

And, Candida is not alone. Another Hyattsville mother, Clenia, also has a child with severe breathing issues, it’s what motivated her to be an environmental activist fighting these very issues.

Tyrese, a teacher and mother from Mount Rainier, has a 9-year-old daughter that suffers from severe asthma. Her child has been hospitalized because of her respiratory problems.

Graciela, a high school student in Hyattsville, has to worry every single school day about whether riding her diesel-run school bus will trigger her asthma attacks.

And the list goes on and on.

The Clean Power Plan represents a much-needed link to protect the health of low income communities and communities of color in Maryland. With 68% of African Americans and nearly 40% Latinos living within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant in in our state, the Clean Power Plan and its environmental justice provisions is crucial for the health and safety of families like Clenia, Tyrese, Candida or Graciela.

For them and many more families like them in our state and across the nation, the Clean Power Plan provides the tools to not only protect their communities from the disproportionate and detrimental health effects from fossil fuel burning power plants, but also to reap some of the economic benefits of clean energy.

We must leave a better environment for generations to come. And, this plan represents an opportunity to move forward and protect our mother earth and its inhabitants.

Other groups in attendance included GreenLatinos, Moms Clean Air Force and LULAC, with representatives from each sharing the need to keep the Clean Power Plan protected from rollbacks.

Clockwise from left: Juan Carlos Perez, from League of United Latin American Citizens, Amanda Arias, with Solidarity Strategies, and Amanda Aguirre of GreenLatinos. Photo credit by Matt Roth for LCV

Among those was Hispanic Access Foundation, led by President Maite Arce.

“The Clean Power Plan is a public health policy that is critical to safeguarding clean air in our communities. We have a moral obligation to protect the health of the environment for future generations and maintaining the Clean Power Plan is a step towards a future of healthy, vibrant and sustainable communities. We applaud the leadership of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and the Maryland General Assembly who are committed to providing opportunities for communities to voice their health and environmental concerns in relation to the EPA’s proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan,” she said in a Latino coalition statement, before the hearing.