Prototype Issue
Living for the Future
By Kate Lutz
(page 1 of 2)The Coalition for Environmental Health and Justice-Communities Against the 710 Expansion is demanding there be no freeway expansion until current air quality is improved and policy changes are made.
LEAD RHYMES WITH BRAIN DEAD
Women from several LA community health groups have joined forces to reverse the growing incidence of lead poisoning of children. With only one in five California children now tested, their goal is to get the legislature to mandate including lead testing with California’s extensive immunization programs and having results recorded on kids’ immunization cards.
“This would allow us to track lead hot spots by ZIP code,” said Martha Arguello, director of Health and Environment for Physicians for Social Responsibility. “It moves us to the root of the problem, which is getting rid of lead in housing, soil and in the air.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found lead poisoning to be one of the most common health problems among children under 6, with low-income children of color at greater risk by a factor of 8.
The push for testing was initiated by the Women’s Policy Institute of California and includes Esther Bush, Coalition for Community Health; Elina Green of Long Beach Alliance of Children With Asthma; Linda Kite of Healthy Homes Collaborative, Martha Dina Arguello of Physicians for Social Responsibility; and Candice Kim of Coalition for Clean Air.
GREEN SCHOOLS FIRST FOR LA
“More classrooms” was the cry that got LAUSD to start construction of more than 100 new schools in the region. The buzz now is to create a legacy where the buildings themselves teach students about environmental sustainability.
To make this happen, the LAUSD Board adopted green building codes, choosing the Collaborative for High Performance Schools model. CHPS includes building with energy and water efficiency (reducing operating costs by 20% to 40%), increased daylight (enhancing student performance by 25%), recycled materials, arsenic-free wood, solar electricity, natural flood control, organic gardens and much more.
Global Green USA, with the support of the Annenberg Fund, has been providing green design and construction guidance to the district for the past three years. Two completed green schools opened this fall: Charles Kim Elementary in Koreatown and Southeast Learning Center in Maywood.
“Building construction and maintenance is responsible for 40% of U.S. energy use and contribute as much as 30% to the global warming CO2 emissions in the U.S.,” said Walker Wells, program director for Global Green. More than 25 CHPS’ed schools are nearing completion, with another 25 slated. More good news: Prop 1D, passed last November, sets aside $100 million statewide for schools committed to meeting green building goals. To learn more <a href= “http://www.globalgreen.org”>www.globalgreen.org.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE VICTORY STEP
LA County wants the Long Beach Port to be one of the world’s largest, and accordingly handed the Metropolitan Transit Authority the daunting task of expanding the 710 freeway to increase port-oriented traffic through some of the worst contaminated air neighborhoods in the nation. The problem: Nearly 40,000 diesel container trucks already drive the 710 each day.
Enter The Coalition for Environmental Health and Justice-Communities Against the 710 Expansion, which is demanding there be no freeway expansion until current air quality is improved and policy changes are made guaranteeing expansion won’t aggravate air quality.
Two recent agreements won by the coalition from the MTA board are notable: New 710 truck lanes can only be used by clean-fuel vehicles; and tolls will be levied to be used to purchase clean-fueled trucks.
Coalition members who helped secure this understanding include: Coalition for Clean Air; Comite Pro Uno; Communities for Better Environment; East Yard Communities for Environmental; Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles; Labor Community Strategy Center-Bus Riders Union; Long Beach Alliance for Children With Asthma; Natural Resources Defense Council; Physicians for Social Responsibility- Los Angeles; and Union De Vecions.
‘We’re looking to turn our big city into a big park.’
DRINKING OCEAN WATER MAY NOT BE THE NEXT WAVE
Desalinization of ocean water appears to be the wished-for magic bullet for developers and private utilities in need of fresh water to justify their projects to regulators. More than 20 desalinization plants are on the drawing board for the coast, with LA County plants planned for Long Beach and El Segundo. To stop the push, 17 environmental groups have organized the statewide Desal Response Group. The biggest concern about “desal” is that rivers of water are sucked in from the ocean, which will further destroy the marine ecosystem. “It will literally suck the life force out of the ocean,” said Dorothy Green, board member of the California Water Impact Network.
LA County has yet to set a date for public hearings on the construction of the Long Beach and El Segundo plants. A federal court ruled recently that desalters may not co-locate next to coastal generators for their water intake. “They will be required to create alternative methods that do not harm marine life,” said Conner Everts, executive director of the Southern California Watershed Alliance and co-chair of the Desal Response Group.
Added Everts: “No large-scale desalters are successfully operating in the country. Conservation, reclaiming waste water and preventing storm water pollution will cost-effectively outperform desal and provide important environmental benefits.” For more info and for hearing dates for local desal proposals visit www.desalresponsegroup.org.
ROOTING FOR THE TREES
Discussion