Renewable energy projects can improve Valley air and create jobs for impoverished towns
Here in the valley, our families and children continue to struggle. Water is scarce, jobs are hard to come by and our kids can’t breathe.
The statistics are staggering.
The San Joaquin Valley has some of the nation’s worst air quality, along with the highest childhood asthma rate in the United States. A decade removed from the Great Recession, our unemployment rates remain higher in Central Valley counties than most of California.
My community of Huron is one of the brownest cities in the nation. With just north of 10,000 people, our large Latino population depends mostly on seasonal work for their livelihood. When California went through its years-long drought, many of the labor-intensive crops were swapped out in favor of crops that use less water and employ fewer people. Today, two in five of our residents live in poverty.
And climate change is making it all worse.
As mayor of Huron and executive director of the Valley Latino Environmental Advancement & Policy Institute (LEAP), I know first-hand how the compounding impacts of a changing climate and an over-reliance on polluting energy sources are affecting our most vulnerable citizens. This fight is about environmental and climate justice, and it is a fight we must win.
It is not too late to start turning things around. We can save our Valley communities and create a better world for future generations. But we must make the right decisions and take the right actions now. There is no time to waste.
We’ve already made strides here in Huron. Our community continues to plant new trees at homes and schools, switched over 200 city streetlights to LED and launched a ride-share program that transports local residents by electric vehicle to Fresno for doctor’s appointments.
To me, though, the huge opportunity lies in renewable energy. It is an industry that doesn’t depend on water and can help improve both our environment and our economy.
It is time to go all-in on new, clean energy projects and technologies.
We need more rooftop solar and battery storage at our homes. We need electric cars and buses with solar-powered charging stations in our neighborhoods. And we need new solar and wind farms combined with large-scale energy storage to ensure that clean energy is always available.
It is time to seriously create, develop and grow new systems, micro-grids and other strategies that will save families from ever increasing electric rates and add to our ability to generate wealth in the process. These projects can be paired with substantive community benefits for equity in opportunities, including student scholarships, skills upgrading and employment. This approach will allow us to transition away from polluting fossil fuels once and for all while we uplift our community and quality of life.
New clean energy projects will also bring good-paying, stable jobs to the valley. The construction of renewable energy facilities created 88,000 jobs in the San Joaquin Valley between 2002 and 2015. More jobs like these could make a huge difference for communities like mine.
The Central Valley can be out of sight, out of mind for many Sacramento politicians. But I implore state lawmakers to hear our pleas and take action. Work together with us to help move new clean energy projects forward in the interest of cleaner air, more jobs and a better world for all.