California

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ethnic Californians are at the forefront of support for environmental policies in the state, according to a new poll released last week by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).

The poll, which asks state residents their perspectives on a wide range of environmental issues, found that ethnic Californians were more likely than whites to perceive air pollution and climate change as serious threats, and favor a role for government in fixing the problems. The survey was conducted in English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese and Korean.

This November, California voters are in danger of undoing one of the most progressive pieces of environmental legislation ever passed.

Texas oil companies have taken advantage of California’s quirky initiative system to place Proposition 23 on the ballot. This proposition has one purpose: to undo California’s Global Warming Solutions Act (also known as Assembly Bill 32, or “A.B. 32”), which stands as a landmark piece of bipartisan clean energy legislation and is a model for federal action. A.B. 32 has catalyzed billions of dollars in private sector investment in clean energy in the state—creating jobs, businesses, and new technologies that are leading the nation toward a cleaner energy future.

Repealing the law would damage California’s clean energy economy, severely inhibit the functioning of the United States’ clean energy innovation engine, increase pollution and dependence on foreign oil, and harm chances for comprehensive federal action. Defeating Proposition 23 at the ballot box would be not only a victory for California but also one of the strongest messages California’s voters can send to Washington and the world that we the people have the will to beat Big Oil.

PLEASANTON -- Pleasanton's voter-approved cap on the number of residences in the city, a measure intended to limit growth and congestion in the town, violates a state law requiring all cities to take on their share of regional housing needs, an Alameda County judge has ruled.

The ruling is the first by a California judge to require a city to change its zoning to accommodate new housing, said attorney Richard Marcantonio of the nonprofit Public Advocates firm, which represented the plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the cap.

Those plaintiffs said Pleasanton was welcoming employees to office parks and other businesses, but forcing other cities to house them.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -– Dangerously high amounts of arsenic have been found in dozens of tanks that provide drinking water to farm workers in Riverside County, according to a report by Spanish-language daily La
Opinion.

The arsenic problem has been confirmed in 23 motor home settlements, occupied primarily by Hispanic laborers, where at least 10,000 to 15,000 residents have been consuming the tainted water. The water tanks are connected to underground wells, that have been found to obtain elevated levels of arsenic, aluminum, iron and other metals.

By Jamilah King

Youth Unemployment from New America Media on Vimeo.

When it comes to global warming, California has started keeping score.

The state Air Resources Board last week finished tallying and made public the list of the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the state, and two East Bay refineries sit atop the list.

By Zachary Norris, Books Not Bars Director at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

California is facing its worst fiscal crisis in decades, and a 3-judge federal panel just declared that it must reduce the prison population by nearly 50,000 people in order to provide constitutionally adequate medical care. But even with California’s prisons bursting at the seams, prison costs soaring past $10 billion dollars per year, and state coffers completely empty, most California legislators have their heads in the sand or their eyes on the next political prize.

What students of color are doing to stay in college during the recession
By Cindy Von Quednow

Daniel Santana has his heart set on being a teacher in his hometown of Lynwood, California, which has a large, low-income Latino community. To pursue this, Santana, who is 19, has worked two jobs since he started at California State University, Northridge, and like many students he’s also relied on financial aid. As the first in his family to go to college, he has been on course.

But now his goals are in jeopardy.

Last year, Santana’s financial aid was reduced by $2,000, and because of the state’s budget priorities that disadvantage poor people even more, he might not be able to get the classes he needs to graduate on time. To get around the second hurdle, he had hoped to take classes at East Los Angeles Community College this summer. But the second sessions of classes were canceled.