Session: Advocacy for Improved Air Quality-A Community Environmental Justice Perspective

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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

5103.0: Wednesday, November 08, 2006: 12:30 PM-2:00 PM

Oral

Advocacy for Improved Air Quality-A Community Environmental Justice Perspective

The following member organizations will address numerous public health and advocacy concerns in the San Joaquin Valley: Medical Advocates for Healthy Air (MAHA); Fresno Metro Ministry (FMM); The Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment (CRPE); and Environmental Defense (ED). MAHA will articulate the complex conditions that contribute to the poor air quality in the San Joaquin Valley, and will present research conducted on the correlation between air quality and school absenteeism due to asthma attacks. FMM will present the history of CVAQ as well as its recent accomplishments in influencing regional compliance with existing clean air laws and the development of new state legislation to improve air quality. CRPE will present the latest research on the environmental and health impacts of mega-dairies, how this issue disproportionately impacts low-income communities of color, and the work of CRPE to halt the proliferation of these dairies in the San Joaquin Valley. ED will articulate how CVAQ organized communities to apply pressure on the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District to ultimately become the first air district agency in the nation to enact Indirect Source Review rules (ISR).

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: Understand the myriad and unique conditions that contribute to this historically rural area’s poor air quality; Recognize the research linking air quality, asthma attacks among school age children, and the impact on school attendance; Understand how the air quality disproportionately impacts communities of color in the San Joaquin Valley; Understand the important elements of a successful coalition of advocates; and Recognize key strategies for advocating for improved air quality.

Moderator(s):

Leon Vinci, PBH

12:30 PM

Central Valley Air Quality coalition (CVAQ): Working for environmental justice in California's San Joaquin Valley (MAHA)