I was one of the bloggers invited to participate in this telephone press conference with these three advocates of human rights and environmental justice.
It was announced at this press conference that Van Jones, Dolores Huerta and Pam Tau Lee have joined the fight against Proposition 23. The three endorsed Communities United Against the Dirty Energy Prop, a grassroots coalition established to engage low income Californians and communities of color against Prop 23, the ballot measure written to nix in California our climate change law, AB 32.
The message from the phone conference was that Prop 23 is a very underhanded measure designed to continue pollution that is now harming our health, and to protect Big Oil from having to compete with green energy investments that are now booming in California. It is not a job protector but a destroyer of jobs and good health.
The Press Conference Participants
Communities United Against the Dirty Energy Proposition is a coalition of dozens and dozens of social justice, environmental justice and community organizations located throughout California that have joined together to fight Prop 23. Communities United was created to reach voters of color and low-income voters and has "experience in voter mobilization and electoral campaigning."
Van Jones is co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change and Green For All and a strong advocate for human rights and a clean energy economy. He also delivered a keynote address at Netroots Nation in 2008 and 2010.
Dolores Huerta's activism spans a lifetime of incredible dedication. Huerta is President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation that works to "inspire and motivate people to organize sustainable communities to attain social justice." She was co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union and has continued with a program at her foundation to train activists in the organizing methods that she and César Chávez created back in the 1960s. In 1968, Robert F. Kennedy acknowledged her role in helping him win the California Democratic Presidential Primary moments before he was assassinated. She also formally placed Hillary Clinton's name into nomination for president at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Pam Tau Lee is founder and current board member of the Chinese Progressive Action, and a founder and former chair of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. Since at least her college years, Lee has been a passionate environmental justice advocate fighting to help workers strike for better wages and working conditions because she "remembers that Chinatown had high rates of tuberculosis because of the poor air quality, long working hours and lack of open air space."
Polluters often push the meme that their businesses or industries should be located in poor and minority communities because they are job creators while ignoring the health impacts. For many years, Lee has worked to eliminate the "unfair choices" that "workers of color face when forced to accept dangerous work or unemployment."
Van Jones, Dolores Huerta and Pam Tau Lee strongly urged the defeat of Prop 23.
Dolores Huerta spoke about the health impacts because there is a "high incidence of asthma from polluted air." She also highlighted how Prop 23 is "not about jobs, but continuing pollution," and we "don't want to make a step backwards."
Van Jones, who said he is "very disturbed by Prop 23," cut to the heart of this proposition when he characterized it as a "deceptive, tricky ballot measure" because it does the opposite of claims made by supporters. Essentially, Jones views Prop 23 as having been designed to "knock out" Silicon Valley as a competitor of the big Texas oil industry for our energy future. Jones stated that now "one of every 4 dollars" of global outlay for clean tech investment is in California, and this "terrifies Big Oil."
Pam Tau Lee discussed how Texas oil is funding Prop 23 at the expense of the health of our children. She also provided a very hopeful statistic: "83% of Asian voters consider themselves environmentalists." This is important because, as Lee stated, "everyone has the right to breathe clean air." Lee also discussed how climate change does not affect all citizens equally in terms of the health impacts from illness and death.
I asked a few questions.
One question I asked is whether this coalition would be working to defeat Prop 26, but Jones responded that he wanted to keep this conference to the subject of Prop 23.
One issue raised was where are the green jobs now? I asked a related question of was there any information available on whether the Prop 23 ballot measure has impacted decisions to proceed with green technology. Jones responded that the "real jobs killer" is the "policy of uncertainty" as we run the risk of "giving investors in California cold feet."
All three environmental advocates also stressed how Prop 23 would move California backwards, a fact reflected in just a brief review of this measure.
Proposition 23 essentially codifies a Fossil Fuel Tax on all Californians to pay most of the external costs of health care, life and environmental damage, but most harm will fall on low-income communities and people of color.
Currently, the fossil fuel industry has carte blanche to pollute our air and water resources, leaving behind many hidden external costs that we pay. These hidden costs include health problems, environmental degradation, acid rain, water pollution, damage to our economy and national security costs.
The Fossil Fuel Industry wants to reap profits by maintaining the status quo no matter how many people are sickened or killed by their pollution.
A study by the Ella Baker Center and the California Environmental Justice Alliance concluded that the two Texas oil companies (Valero and Tesoro) that are bankrolling Prop 23 have been "repeatedly cited for producing deadly chemicals at their refineries that are exposing millions of California families to harm." The study also found that these two corporate oil Toxic Twins locate their facilities such that the "people who bear the biggest health burdens from these facilities are disproportionately people of color."
Who is Funding Prop 23? Check out this cool tool that identifies the many oil companies by name and amount of donation.
Ostensibly, Prop 23 will only suspend our climate change law of AB 32 designed to move us forward to a clean energy future, but the reality is that it will nix the law. The suspension remains in force until state unemployment rate stabilizes at or below 5.5% for four consecutive quarters, which has only happened three times since 1976.
Nixing our climate change law reaps several benefits for the fossil fuel industry. The industry will continue reaping profits unimpeded by climate change measures as well as eliminating AB 32 as a model for other states and a national comprehensive climate change bill. In addition, AB 32 includes an environmental justice measure that could impede or prevent the fossil fuel industry practice of locating factories and other pollution emitting facilities in minority and low-income neighborhoods. AB 32 includes an environmental justice advisory committee to advise the state agency when implementing the law.
You can take action with Communities United Against The Dirty Energy Prop defeat Prop 23: