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Hispanics Go Green

The environmental justice movement, which has long advocated for better protection of children’s health from smog, dirty water and lead poisoning, is gaining increasing support from new quarters – Hispanic Americans.

Concerned because so many Hispanic children suffer from lead poisoning (they are twice as likely as non-Hispanic white children to have lead in their blood), asthma and other environmental-related ailments, activists from Hispanic communities are demanding action from elected leaders. In places like Southern California, they’re finding they have sufficient political clout to seat legislators who will support their cause.

The movement focuses on practical issues, such as building parks and creating green spaces in local neighborhoods, reducing emissions that can exacerbate childhood asthma and cleaning up Superfund sites or contaminated water supplies.

Mainstream environmental groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, have long fought for environmental justice and worked to reduce contaminants that can affect children’s health, especially in low-income neighborhoods. In an effort to partner with the emerging Hispanic green movement, many are hiring Spanish-speaking outreach coordinators and offering Spanish-language websites and other materials. Sierrra Club and Earth Day Network, for example, sponsored a National Latino Congress and joined with activists to work on local projects.

For more information, visit the NRDC’s Spanish-language website: http://nrdc.org/ondaverde/default.asp.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org