It’s been years since protests by residents of the agricultural communities in Kern County against fumigation without notice prompted a state initiative. Years later, residents say little has changed.
Small towns get ready to fight big oil over air quality in Central Valley By Ingrid Lobet
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Oil and gas producers could find themselves increasingly on the defensive in California now that two communities near the heart of the state’s largest concentration of oilfields have won inclusion under its community air protection law on Thursday.
Residents of Arvin and unincorporated Lamont, both in rural Kern County, have been organizing for three years with the goal of gaining status under Assembly Bill 617, a law intended to force California’s regional air pollution districts and Air Resources Board to share power with communities and reckon with their priorities. All members of the Board save one voted for the inclusion of Arvin and Lamont after hours of public testimony Thursday night.
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Oil and gas producers could find themselves increasingly on the defensive in California now that two communities near the heart of the state’s largest concentration of oilfields have won inclusion under its community air protection law on Thursday.
Residents of Arvin and unincorporated Lamont, both in rural Kern County, have been organizing for three years with the goal of gaining status under Assembly Bill 617, a law intended to force California’s regional air pollution districts and Air Resources Board to share power with communities and reckon with their priorities. All members of the Board save one voted for the inclusion of Arvin and Lamont after hours of public testimony Thursday night.
Credit: Vice News
In the year before COVID-19 infected the nation and the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others inspired tens of thousands of Americans to rise up and demand justice, journalist Paola Ramos drove to Central Valley, CA, a picturesque region dotted with almond trees and produce crops. She was on her way to meet Byanka Santoyo, a local activist and daughter of farmworkers.
Ramos, a former deputy director of Hispanic media for Hillary Clinton s 2016 campaign, wanted to meet the young woman to learn about her work fighting for better wages and conditions. She also wanted to prove her theory that although the women were born into very different circumstances, they were united by the fact that their life stories were not reflected in the broader narrative about Latinos in the United States.