CRRR was one of the largest contributors of air pollution, offensive odors, debris and water contamination in South Kern County.  Last month, two young CRRR employees, Armando and Eladio Ramirez, died while working at the facility when they were overcome by toxic fumes. 

The Board decision was the result of an incredible effort from community residents, supported by CRPE's organizing and legal departments.  Prior to the decision, we met with two board members, County staff and other allies; we flooded Supervisors with phone calls and faxes, and used social and regular media to galvanize support and keep the pressure on.

This victory would not have been possible without our amazing community groups and supporters. It was these voices that the Board heard and responded to, and without which it wouldn't have had the courage to change the status quo to protect the people of Arvin and Lamont.  Our deepest thanks go out to all who attended, rallied, called, signed, or otherwise supported the community.

CRPE Board Member Tom Frantz created an amazing video about this. Check it out here.

CRPE Assistant Director, Lupe Martinez, rallies with Kern Co. residents before the November 15th hearing

Some of the Kivalina leaders gather with attorneys Brent Newell and Matt Pawa outside the courthouse

On November 28, 2011, a few weeks after another Arctic storm slammed into Kivalina, Alaska with category 3 hurricane force winds, nine of Kivalina's leaders travelled to San Francisco for a critical court hearing.  Because of the drastic effects global warming has had on this small island village, such storms affect the island worse because sea ice no longer protects it from spring and fall storms. So dire is Kivalina's situation that, after the government failed to help, the community's leaders voted in 2008 to seek justice in court from the 24 largest greenhouse gas polluters in the U.S. who are contributing to Kivalina's destruction.   

That lawsuit was dismissed and earlier this week, Kivalina's team of lawyers, including CRPE, appeared in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to convince a three-judge panel that Kivalina's case should proceed to a trial.  At trial, Kivalina will ask for compensation for climate change damage and relocating the community to safe ground.

Matt Pawa, one of the lead attorneys for Kivalina, brilliantly argued Kivalina's cause.  The presence of Kivalina's leaders in the small courtroom provided powerful support for Matt and a gentle reminder to the judges that climate change is not just a disputed theory, but reality that drastically affects people. 

Kivalina's leaders and CRPE are extremely thankful for the generosity of the Energy Foundation, which made it possible for six of the leaders to make the long journey to San Francisco and for Brent to travel to Kivalina in August to meet with our clients before the argument.   

Please take a few moments to watch or listen to Matt's exceptional oral argument.

Bay Area and Valley Supporters Spend a Day with Environmental  

Justice Leaders 

Lauren Richter

Communities Transform the Valley's Dirty Economy Through Cooperative Farms

Juan Flores and Camille Pannu 

CRPE's Green and Just Economic Development communities have been hard at work, securing land and water to establish new community farming projects. These projects go beyond traditional community gardens and provide training in farm management, organic agriculture, and cooperative governance while increasing access to healthy jobs and healthy food. Shafter and Arvin recently established new farming partnerships and have begun planning for new gardens and community farming areas. In Allensworth and Wasco, community leaders are exploring private-public partnerships with Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park and the City of Wasco.

Beginning in 2009, CRPE worked with Kern and Tulare County communities to transform how the San Joaquin Valley does business. Community leaders engaged in our Power to the People campaign developed a vision for an alternative economy to the Valley's heavily polluting industrial agriculture. Their vision is captured in The Green Paper: A Community Vision for Environmentally and Economically Sustainable Development, and it imagines a Valley that is environmentally responsible and economically just.

Their efforts are aided by organizers Juan Flores and Refugio Valencia, and by Camille Pannu, a new CRPE attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow. With support from graduate students enrolled in Presidio Graduate School's Sustainable Management Masters in Public Administration (MPA), CRPE has partnered with Allensworth, Arvin, Shafter, and Wasco community leaders to establish community agriculture projects. CRPE believes that creating a model for green economic development in rural communities will improve community health, decrease poverty, and restore the beauty of the San Joaquin Valley.