EcoMadres Noticias: April 2023

What we’ve been up to

EcoMadres across the country have been actively fighting for justice in every breath. Here are some recent highlights from this past month:

1. EcoMadres Speak at the EPA on Transportation
   On April 12th, National Field Manager Liz Hurtado and her daughter, Leena, presented remarks before Administrator Regan and the crowd outside EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC, about the terrible health impacts of tailpipe pollution. EPA Administrator Regan announced historic protections from tailpipe pollution that will accelerate our transition to zero-emission vehicles. In the U.S., Black, Asian, Latino, and low-income communities are more likely to live near truck routes and bear a disproportionately heavy burden from tailpipe pollution’s health harms. This important and historic step forward toward cleaning up toxic pollution brings us a step closer to reducing the health risks that come with living near transportation hubs.
2. EPA Environmental Justice Grant Funding Cafecito: Air Monitoring in Colorado
   The Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan opened funding for community air monitoring projects, and EPA announced grant awardees for air monitoring projects in 37 states. The projects are focused on communities that are underserved, historically marginalized, and overburdened by pollution, supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative. By enhancing air quality monitoring and encouraging partnerships with communities, EPA is investing in protecting people’s health. Several Colorado communities received grant funding, including Cultivando, who joined the panel to talk about the AIRE project.
   https://fb.watch/jUgcVNdens/
3. Celebrating National Doctor’s Day
   Karin Stein, Moms Iowa consultant & EcoMadre, and Dr. Geraldine Luna, medical director with the Chicago Department of Public Health, discuss air pollution, air monitoring and environmental justice.
   EarthChats: Air Quality Monitoring
   EcoCharla: Monitoreo de la calidad del aire
4. Nevada Clean Vehicles Virtual Press Conference
   EcoMadres Nevada consultant Mercedes McKinley joined Congressman Steven Horsford, Nevada Conservation League, and youth activists in a virtual press conference to call for a new round of Clean Car Standards that will drive investments in clean cars, EV manufacturing, and public health protection.
   Nevada Clean Vehicles Virtual Press Conference

EcoMadres in the News

• • On International Women’s Day, Telemundo Noticias featured EcoMadres by recognizing the work in fighting against air pollution and the effects of climate change on Latino families living in the US.
  • Colorado consultant Shaina Oliver speaks out about the Suncor Refinery in Commerce City, Colorado, just north of Denver with the Colorado Sun. Shaina has been testing the air quality in her neighborhood and responding to frequent alerts from the refinery. She worries about the air that her family and community is breathing.
  • Following the Ohio train derailment petrochemical catastrophe, EcoMadres Program Manager Carolina Peña-Alarcón discussed the impacts on our communities with Radio Bilingue (interview is in Spanish) and Karin Stein discussed the impacts with Univision Noticias 24/27 (interview in Spanish).

Member Spotlight: Meet Ana Rios

Ana Rios is the New Mexico field consultant for Moms Clean Air Force and EcoMadres. She has advocated for environmental justice initiatives at the state and federal levels.

Ana joined members of Moms across the country at the EPA public hearing on soot pollution to demand stronger protections for her hometown of Albuquerque, NM. In her testimony, Ana shared:

Stronger standards are necessary to protect the health of families like mine. We live in the San Jose neighborhood, a well-known Latino area, which is surrounded by industry. My house is located a few steps away from a heavy-duty trucks facility, near the railroad, and a couple of miles away from the intersection of two interstate freeways. Adding to that, last year, early in April here in New Mexico we had 20 wildfires burning in 16 counties across the state. All the smoke traveled to different areas making the air quality worse and affecting communities that have long been overburdened by other sources of air pollution.

Ana was featured in an interview by Telemundo PR on the impacts of soot pollution on our health (interview in Spanish).

Increasing oil and gas production in the San Juan Basin and southeastern New Mexico is driving an increase in air pollution in communities across the state. New Mexico is the second largest oil producer in the country and the ninth largest producer of natural gas. In this article, Ana shares, “As a mother and a Latina, I am especially worried about how this pollution could affect my children’s health and future. Latino children in the US are twice as likely as non-Latino white people to die from asthma attacks—in part because of the disproportionate pollution burden Latino communities experience from industrial sources like oil and gas operations.” This is why Ana, and her fellow EcoMadres, continue to advocate for stronger protections because everyone deserves to breathe clean air.

Ana was also featured in Univision New Mexico as she discussed the legislature’s inaction to pass climate policy and how it affects Latino communities like hers (interview in Spanish).

Climate Change and Mental Health Corner

If you’re feeling worried about climate change, you’re not alone—let’s talk about it.

Climate change impacts our mental health. The stress and trauma of climate disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, and extreme heat is linked to depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health impacts. Because climate change exacerbates existing racial and ethnic disparities, Latino communities experience the mental health impacts of climate change in unique ways.

A significant majority of Latinos are worried about climate change. According to the Yale Program on Climate Communication’s 2017 report Climate Change in the Latino Mind: three in four Latinos (78%) are worried about global warming.

Climate change & mental health webinar. As part of Latino Advocacy Week, Moms Senior Policy Analyst Elizabeth Bechard, EcoMadres Field Manager Liz Hurtado, and EcoMadres Program Manager Carolina Pena hosted a webinar on how climate change impacts our mental and emotional well-being, with a focus on the unique impacts for Latino communities. They shared strategies for navigating the mental and emotional terrain of living in a changing climate, how to support the young people in your lives with climate distress, and more. Watch the replay.

• On April 22nd , join us for a livestreamed Earth Day special featuring upbeat Latin music about climate change, environmental justice, climate action, and cultivating hope. https://www.momscleanairforce.org/event/earth-day-concert-featuring-sontierra/
• On April 26th, join EcoMadres to learn how you can participate during an EPA public comment period so that you can use your voice to help create strong federal government rules on pollution: click here to register

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