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Greetings!
Greetings and Happy Holidays! It is an incredible honor to follow in the footsteps of CRPE's founder, Luke Cole, as the inaugural Luke Cole Memorial Fellow. In law school I discovered Luke's writing and it transformed my understanding of the roles lawyers should and should not play in struggles for social change. Since starting the Fellowship in September, I've had the privilege of continuing several national civil rights cases that Luke began before his sudden death in 2009. Driven by the understanding that low-income people and people of color bear the brunt of environmental problems, Luke pioneered the use of civil rights law to address disparate health impacts from pollution. I am deeply committed to carrying on this work and continue to be driven by Luke's political power building model for change.The Fellowship (like much of our work) is funded through individual donors, and your contribution today will help ensure that Luke's legacy lives on.Beyond the groundbreaking national work that I have had the privilege to take on, CRPE has continued to fight for the rights of communities in the underrepresented and over-polluted Central Valley of California. During this past year:* We represented the Committee for a Better Arvin in three lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to ensure California cleans up air pollution, winning one case and litigating two more as the year comes to a close. Arvin is home to the poorest air quality in the U.S. * For the first time we organized residents in Delano, the home of our Valley office. We successfully prevented water and utility rates from increasing 400% over the next five years in this majority Latino city.
* We helped residents in Shafter and Arvin launch two organic community-run gardens which will improve access to healthy produce in areas that lack other local options. Your donation will ensure the continued success of these projects and others like them. Thank you for making it possible for me to launch my career serving the grassroots movement for environmental justice. Sincerely,
 Madeline Stano2012-2014 Luke Cole Memorial Fellow
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