Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108400

Joel Ervice¹, Meena Palaniappan, MS², Fatumata Kamakaté², Bhavna Shamasunder, MES³, and Margaret Gordon⁴. (1) Regional Asthma Management and Prevention Initiative (RAMP), 180 Grand Ave., Suite 750, Oakland, CA 94612, 510-302-3316, joel@rampasthma.org, (2) Community Strategies for Sustainabilty and Justice Program, Pacific Institute, 654 13th Street, Oakland, CA 94610, (3) Environmental Health and Justice Program, Urban Habitat, 436 14th Street, Suite 1205, Oakland, CA 94612, (4) West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project/Pacific Institute, 654 13th Street, Preservation Park, Oakland, CA 94612

In the San Francisco Bay Area in California, diesel pollution is a major contributor to poor air quality, which in turn can have serious impacts on the public's health, including asthma, cancer and poor quality of life. These impacts are often particularly acute in low-income communities and/or communities of color, making diesel pollution a key cause of health disparities and an environmental justice concern. In mid-2004, representatives from the Pacific Institute, the Regional Asthma Management and Prevention Initiative, Urban Habitat, and the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project began a regional, collaborative-building process to better address diesel pollution in the Bay Area. Environmental justice grassroots groups and community asthma coalitions were already engaged in a great deal of diesel reduction advocacy based on local experiences and analysis of diesel pollution. Based on surveys and focus groups, for example, one community focused on ports; another on school bus idling. The regional process aimed to establish a broader diesel reduction policy agenda grounded in local evidence, priorities, and solutions and complimented by regional and state-level air quality data. The agenda was developed through small- and large-scale meetings with a variety of local, regional, and technical assistance partners from the environmental justice and public health sectors. Such cross-sector diversity and community-based agenda-setting created a policy framework and a working collaborative that have served to increase the effectiveness of local work and the impacts of regional environmental advocacy.

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