In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, we learned that breathing polluted air, especially over many years, increases vulnerability to the coronavirus. For communities in South Los Angeles, which have dealt with the compounding effects of decades of toxic air pollution from cars, diesel trucks, and oil and gas wells for decades, this was scary news.
Then, in August, we all watched in horror as California’s air pollution problem got even worse. Hundreds of climate-fueled wildfires blanketed communities in smoke for weeks on end, increasing the burden on vulnerable lungs in the midst of a respiratory pandemic.
This summer has made it overwhelmingly clear that powering California’s economy with fossil fuels is poisoning frontline communities—and new polling commissioned by California Environmental Voters Education Fund and the California Environmental Justice Alliance finds that accelerating the transition to a clean energy and protecting communities from pollution from fossil fuel extraction is top-of-mind for voters as they cast their ballots in the November election.
According to the new poll, voters in South Los Angeles—which encompasses Florence-Firestone, Huntington Park, Los Angeles and Walnut Park—overwhelmingly want leaders to take stronger action against air pollution and climate change by accelerating the transition to 100% clean energy. And crucially, voters want the transition to center equity.
For decades, communities in South Los Angeles have lived on the frontlines of fossil fuel extraction. Over 50 active oil wells pollute South L.A. neighborhoods, putting communities at greater risk of asthma, cancer, and low-birth weight. Nearly 75% of voters agree that the transition to 100% clean energy must happen first in low-income communities, which have been disproportionately harmed by fossil fuel pollution.
Given communities’ devastating history with California’s fossil fuel industry, it is unsurprising that a majority of voters believe that local governments are not doing enough to protect the health of low-income communities and communities of color when issuing permits for potentially hazardous facilities like fossil fuel production.
Just this summer, state legislators failed to pass a protection that would have set minimum setback distance between fossil fuel extraction and the places where Californians live, work and play—a policy that 80% of South L.A. residents support. The policy’s death gave fossil fuel companies the green light to continue drilling next to homes, despite unacceptable health risks.
This election, Southern California working families are ready to take action at the polls in support of candidates that will stand up to polluters and support a healthy regenerative economy for all — one that can truly address the systemic legacy of environmental racism that has plagued vulnerable communities for far too long.
Melissa Romero is a legislative affairs manager at the California Environmental Voters and the California Environmental Voters Education Fund.
