Liberty Hill

Polls Show Sharp Drop in Concern over Climate Change

Throughout California and the nation, there’s been a  steady decline in the concern over climate change, stated Dr. Richard Bernard, Sr. Vice President of Fairbanks, Maslin, Maullin and Associates, during a workshop entitled  “California’s Changing Views on the Environment,”  presented by Liberty Hill and its partner donees Green LA Coalition and Green LA Institute and hosted by the Emmett Center for Climate Change and the Environment, UCLA School of Law.

 
An audience of professionals from the environmental and environmental justice worlds as well as students had gathered at  UCLA to glean information that could have an impact upon their work and the future of California, if not the planet.

Bernard and his firm conduct opinion research and provide public policy analysis for their clients, among them progressive organizations hoping to fund their environmental causes through ballot measures in statewide or local elections. Bernard shared data gathered through polling and focus groups that supported a number of conclusions.  Among his findings and insights:

--There is a sense that the economy is changing people’s ideas about the environment, that there has to be a tradeoff between the economy and the environment.

--In a national survey, when respondents were asked which issues were important to them, 79% stated that the economy and employment were important, 49% identified pollution of lakes and streams and 43% said global warming was important.

--Particularly because of the decline in concern over climate change, it’s critical to link the environment positively with the economy.

--Despite the poor economy in 2008, voters throughout the nation approved 62 of 87 land conservation measures--a success rate of 71%.

--Water issues rate higher with the public than all other environmental issues. Case in point: during the California elections of 2006, Prop. 84, a water bond measure, passed, while Prop. 87, a clean energy measure, lost.

Should Poisoned Communities Be The Site for More Pollution?

Today's L.A. Times talks about a new lawsuit filed by Liberty Hill partner Coalition for a Safe Environment and other environmental groups to block a proposed truck expressway that would bring more pollution to the already polluted communities near the ports of Long Beach and L.A.

Powered By Liberty Hill - Advancing Change in the Environment

Liberty Hill just announced its Fund for Change Environmental Justice Awards.

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now-Los Angeles $25,000.00
Greater Long Beach Interfaith Community Organization $20,000.00
Heal the Bay $20,000.00
People's Community Organization for Reform and Empowerment $22,000.00
Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education $35,000.00
The City Project $20,000.00

Environmental Justice Advocates Have The Ear of US EPA's Lisa Jackson

Michele Prichard who leads Liberty Hill's Common Agenda work just returned from a visit with U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. Here's her report:

 

In what many Southern California environmental justice activists hailed as an unprecedented event, on Thursday, October 1^st, U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson  met with nearly 30 community leaders from around the region in a listening tour to better understand the impacts of pollution in low-income communities of color. 

 

With brief opening remarks that highlighted the “legacy of industrialization and neglect” faced by so many neighborhoods, Administrator Jackson also noted the “informed and demanding citizenry” for which the Southern California region is well known.  She pledged to use the bully pulpit of her current post to hear from communities working for clean air, water and communities free of toxic assault. 

Commerce Residents Take Life&Death Cause To Regulators Who Can Fix It

UPDATE: Read the L.A. Times "Column One" Sept 24, 2009 for excellent context and a terrific video.

On Friday, Commerce residents will go to the California Air Resources Board to plead for their lives.

BNSF Hobart Railyard in the City of Commerce is the largest intermodal railyard in the United States. That means it moves more freight using locomotives and trucks than anywhere else in the country. Hobart borders the slightly smaller Union Pacific Commerce Railyard, and sits about a mile away from two other BNSF railyards.

Most of the wheels, cranes and engines in that compact area run on diesel. Unfortunately for the residents of Commerce and surrounding areas, California declared diesel particulate matter a toxic air contaminant more than 10 years ago. And according to the most recent health risk assessment of the railyards, the potential cancer risk from diesel emissions for some of those living nearby is about twice the rate for Southern California as a whole.

Liberty Hill partner East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice has worked with residents in Commerce and East Los Angeles to improve environmental health and safety since 2001. This weekend, they will use the experiences of those same residents to appeal for major improvements in the way Commerce railyards do business.

Green L.A. Agenda Advances With Mayoral Support

Green L.A., the kickbutt coalition incubated at Liberty Hill for the last two years, met with the mayor and Deputy Mayor David Freeman again last week to push for more citywide green policies.

A couple of policy advances were on the table. For years, Liberty Hill has been a frontlines player in organizing environmental justice forces throughout L.A. Those EJ forces asked the mayor to create three pilot "EJ Zones" in Wilmington, East L.A. and Pacoima, three of L.A.'s mostly densely polluted neighborhoods. A Mayoral Directive would prevent further pollution and begin to revitalize these communities. The Mayor's said he's on board.

Green L.A. also asked the Mayor for his support of a Complete Street Policy so that L.A. streets were designed to accomodate bikes, buses and pedestrians as well as cars. (Anybody ever been stuck trying to cross the street at Olympic, Fairfax and San Vicente? The lights are timed so you get half way across San Vicente and then you're stuck for 5 minutes in the middle of the street as cars whiz by you from both directions. Something in the neighborhood of 100 pedestrians are killed each year in L.A. I'm for ped-friendly streets.)

Green L.A. also secured support for a strong, low-impact development ordinance to help capture water and improve water quality to complement the City's Green Bulding program and an expansion of the City's Green Retrofit Program.

More on Green Jobs in L.A.

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a "green jobs van tour" put together by Jane Paul, Green Jobs guru for Green L.A. We blogged about it at the time. Now, Southern California Connected has produced a segment that visits the East L.A. Skills Center where people are getting trained for the new green economy. It was pulled together by my friend Saul Gonzalez, longtime producer with The Lehrer News Hour. Take a look.

The Green Economy Taking Root in L.A. and California

The Green Economy is already helping California's economy. Liberty Hill has been a part of it. Our Green L.A. coalition has been instrumental in
advocating that L.A. become the national engine of the new green economy. We want to see these jobs not only come to L.A. but go to communities that need them most. Read today's L.A. Times story.

Have you seen green jobs sprouting in Los Angeles? Let us know. Leave a comment below.

Pictured here: students at the East L.A. Skills Center learning to install solar panels.

The Time Is Now. Liberty Hill President's Remarks at The Upton Sinclair Dinner Last Night.

Liberty Hill President Kafi Blumenfield provided inspiration and vision in her remarks at the Upton Sinclair Dinner May 14th.

Good evening. A few weeks ago, a great champion of justice and a dear friend of Liberty Hill passed away. I know a number of you knew Wally Marks well. He was a wonderful supporter of Liberty Hill and of many of the organizations in this room tonight. 

The day of his memorial service, there were hundreds of people. It was held up on a hill near Playa Vista and if you looked west you could see the ocean.

As I left the service for Wally, I saw a friend, RABBI HEATHER MILLER, who is here tonight. We talked for a moment and she said “Kafi, maybe Wally was one of the Lamed Vov.”

I didn’t know what she meant. It’s a Hebrew word that means 36. According to the Talmud, there are 36 people on the planet at any one time who feel the world’s suffering and have the potential to save the world.
Nobody knows who they are. They don’t know who they are. They could be doctors, waiters, homeless people, moviemakers, moms.
Wally didn’t ever go to bed hungry, but he felt other people’s hunger as if it was his own. And it motivated him to use every resource at his disposal to bring about change. It’s this deep passion for justice that led us to decide the other day that we would begin to name a seed grant each year in Wally’s name.

As I left the service, RABBI MILLER pointed to my two month old who i was holding in my arms and said, “Kafi maybe your son is one of them.”

I drove home and looked at my baby in the rear view mirror. Hmmm. My Obi, one of the lamed vov.

But by the time I’d gotten home I realized the job was bigger than Obi. Bigger than Wally, even.

We love Mama Earth!

What a week! Here's what we did to honor Mama Earth:

Monday:  Gearing up for the big day!

Tuesday: We spotted a cheerful Honda Insight commercial. How lovely to be gay and green! One more reason to buy a raffle ticket to win an Insight. 

Wednesday: Did you know L.A. is at the forefront of the green economy?  We spent Earth Day on a van tour with Green L.A.'s green economy expert, Jane Paul, to get the scoop on the newest sustainable jobs around the city.

Thursday: Even though Earth Day has come and gone, our environmental efforts don't stop.  We launched our Green2Go pack. For $100 you'll get an aluminum water bottle, reusable tote, organic handmade toiletries and a chance to win the 2010 Honda Insight!  

Friday: Great news! California is the first to adopt landmark regulations limiting greenhouse emissions from fuels used in cars and trucks.  Check out the full story over at NRDC.

We work year round on our Agenda for Change to build a new green economy and support the environmental justice movement. It was so nice to pause and celebrate all things good and green.  Did you have as much fun as we did?