The post Introducing CEJA’s Two-Year Strategic Plan: 2024 – 2026 appeared first on California Environmental Justice Alliance ..read more

  Dear Friends, I am writing with exciting news – Diana Vazquez Ballesteros is CEJA’s new Co-Executive Director for Programs! Diana will join the CEJA team on August 5, 2024, working in partnership with Denise Glaze, our incoming Co-Executive Director for Operations & Development. Welcome Diana! A seasoned environmental justice advocate and policy maker, Diana will make sure that CEJA remains at the forefront of the fight for the health and safety of California’s most vulnerable communities. She comes to CEJA from her current role as an appointed Deputy Director f ..read more

In a spectacular victory for environmental justice, communities across California defeated oil and gas giants before they even made it to the ballot.   Yesterday, Californians for Energy Independence pulled their referendum seeking to overturn the law creating 3,200 ft setbacks from the November 2024 election.  Organizers from environmental justice communities have fought against the toxic impact of oil and gas drilling on themselves, their families, and their loved ones for decades. Because of that grassroots advocacy, California passed a law (SB 1137) in 2022 that ended new ga ..read more

Dear Friends, I am thrilled to announce that CEJA’s Board of Directors has hired Denise Glaze as its Co-Executive Director for Operations & Development. She will start her new position on July 1, 2024.  The Board is proud and delighted that Denise will be at the helm of CEJA, especially at this time of unprecedented political and corporate threats to environmental health and social justice. Congratulations to all of us!  As many of you know, Denise is a life-long advocate for justice who currently works as CEJA’s Development Director. In that capacity, she oversees CEJA’s fundra ..read more

Defensive Wins, a Disastrous Budget, and a Need for Community-Centered Environmental Justice Solutions 2023 was, in many ways, a disappointing year for environmental justice communities across California. Bold bills like SB 556 (Gonzalez) – which aimed to shift the burden of proof to polluters, holding fossil fuel companies legally accountable for health issues like cancer or high-risk pregnancy suffered by those who live near an oil or gas operation – were drowned in a wave of lobbying money.  While the environmental justice community weathered more than its share of disappointments, the ..read more

On October 13, 2023, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced $1.2 billion in funding for hydrogen infrastructure development in California, as part of $7 billion in hydrogen hub funding available nationwide.  In response, CEJA submitted a letter to the DOE vehemently opposing California’s approach to obtaining this funding.  California’s application process entirely cut out input from low-income communities of color who are already overburdened by pollution, and whose voices should be central in developing California’s energy future.  CEJA and its partners also recently release ..read more

October 13, 2023 To: David Crane Suzanne Baker Angelique Besnard Catherine Clark David Crane   Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations U.S. Department of Energy  1000 Independence Ave SW  Washington, D.C. 20585  The undersigned groups regretfully write to express our strong opposition to the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) funding the first phase of California’s hydrogen hub application, the Alliance for Reliable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES).  Our groups represent the low-income communities of color who stand to be most i ..read more

On Wednesday, August 9, the California Energy Commission (CEC) is scheduled to vote on whether to keep three toxic gas plants – Ormond Beach, Huntington, and AES Alamitos – operational for another three years. It will cost over a billion dollars to keep these dangerous once-through-cooling gas plants active. A recent study commissioned by Regenerate California, of which CEJA is a member, found that these gas plants did not hit their energy targets during the 2022 heatwave, and in fact made pollution in the communities they were supposed to serve demonstrably worse. CEJA is proud to join 6 ..read more

New analysis of California’s 2022 heat wave confirms gas plants failed to deliver promised power while toxic emissions soared in environmental justice communities. Results call into question Gov. Newsom’s strategy to prolong the life of gas plants to prevent energy shortfalls. Download the 2023 Heatwave Report here California gas plants underperformed and over polluted in the record breaking heat wave of 2022, the latest in a string of extreme, prolonged heat events. Following Governor Newsom’s Executive Order lifting emissions limits on gas plants and diesel backup generators, toxic emissions ..read more

Twenty-one years ago, six environmental justice organizations from across the state came together to form a policy working group. At that time “environmental justice” was a little-known and poorly respected concept in California public policy. In the two decades since our founding, the California Environmental Justice Alliance has grown to include ten organizations and notched historic policy victories. This coming year marks CEJA’s tenth annual legislative scorecard, the successful launch of our 8th voter guide, and an expanded knowledge of environmental justice and environmental racism insid ..read more