Climate Justice
City of Guadalupe residents are especially impacted by air pollution from pesticides, dust, and other agricultural inputs. Photo by Mar y Sol Productions.
OUR VISION
In a region with extreme wealth disparity and some of the highest poverty rates in the state, CEC is deploying bold, community-led solutions rooted in climate justice that protect our most vulnerable populations against extreme weather and climate impacts. We engage frontline communities that are additionally impacted by fossil fuel infrastructure, legacy pollution, extreme weather, and other intersecting injustices to ensure that everyone has a say in how to protect against climate risks.
By actively creating spaces where underrepresented voices can share their vision and directly influence the planning and implementation of community-led solutions, we can catalyze and sustain investment in communities most vulnerable to climate change.
In 2023, CEC:
Through the Guadalupe Community Air Project, collected and analyzed local air quality data and created bilingual resources and opportunities for community discourse on air pollution, pesticide exposure, and health.
Hosted 19 meetings with presenters from 15 partner organizations for Nuestro Tiempo (Our Time), a space for Spanish-speaking community members to learn more about how climate change intersects with key issues, share ideas and concerns, and design ways to take action.
Partnered with the County of Santa Barbara to deliver a Spanish-language electric vehicle (EV) training for 33 peer educators to help enroll low-income or disadvantaged households in CEC’s free EV purchase guidance services. The partnership more than tripled CEC’s capacity to conduct Spanish-language EV outreach and education in the region.
“Air quality monitors tell us what the air contains, how it affects us, and gives us information so we are able to protect ourselves.”
—Ranulfo Morales
Field Worker
What’s Ahead
Through a new collaboration with Dignity Health, expand the Guadalupe Community Air Project to communities in the City of Santa Maria and Southern San Luis Obispo County that are disproportionately affected by air quality and more likely to have existing medical conditions. The project will bring together multilingual groups to share knowledge and learn how to protect themselves from health issues caused by intersecting climate impacts tied to agriculture, wildfire smoke, and heat.
WHAT CEC IS DOING
Nuestro Tiempo
An initiative of the Community Environmental Council, Nuestro Tiempo is a space for Spanish-speaking community members to learn more about how climate change intersects with key issues, have questions answered, share ideas and concerns, and design ways to take grassroots action. Learn more.
CARB Guadalupe Community Air Monitoring Project
This project is gathering information about outdoor air quality in Guadalupe (north Santa Barbara County), including the presence of wildfire smoke, pesticides, and other common pollutants, pollutant distribution data, and providing this information to the community via a bi-lingual website along with locally-focused, educational programming on local air quality and health concerns. Learn more.
Community Resilience Hubs
CEC, in partnership with the Santa Barbara Regional Climate Collaborative and the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP), received a grant to plan and design a network of neighborhood climate resilience centers – or hubs – that provide centralized disaster services, support, and education to residents who are most vulnerable or at high risk during disasters.Learn more.
Supporting Language Justice
CEC’s multilingual events use best practices for translation and provide expert interpretation. We work with CEC’s Community Ambassadors and skilled translators to improve language access for our events and programs, so more people can participate and create community-centered solutions to the climate crisis across multiple languages.
FRESA (Food Resilience, Equity, Sustainability & Action)
FRESA is a community-led coalition of food system advocates in Santa Barbara County, including nonprofits, government, private industry, and individuals. The coalition is working to expand community access to affordable, locally-produced fruits and vegetables in the North County and Mid County regions. Learn more.
“We have an opportunity right now to apply resilience to dismantle oppressive systems and let communities reclaim their own power. “
– Jennifer Hernández, Director of Climate Justice
Community Environmental Council
HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION
Join the Nuestro Tiempo community
An initiative of the Community Environmental Council, Nuestro Tiempo is a space for Spanish-speaking community members to learn more about how climate change intersects with key issues, have questions answered, share ideas and concerns, and design ways to take grassroots action. Join now.
Advocate for policy changes
Join our community of policy advocates and get all of the latest news on how you can play a direct role in influencing policies at the local level. Check out this guide that outlines how to engage in local public policy work.
Hear frontline stories
Review CEC’s Climate Resilience Roundtable Stories of Resilience/Historias de resiliencia to hear lived experiences and deepen your understanding of the compounding impacts of climate change and socio-economic vulnerabilities on our frontline and essential workers and indigenous cultures.
Learn more about how to engage with our community-based projects
Educate Yourself
Visit the Climate Justice Resources page to learn more about everything.
