Guideline Evaluations and Recommendations Programs
receiving allocations
through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), recently branded by the Air Resources Board as “California Climate Investments”, have established an unprecedented funding opportunity for sustainable development. This opportunity extends not merely to economic and environmental concerns, but also to the often underemphasized third pillar of sustainability—equity—the neglect of which is directly responsible for the rise of the EJ movement.11 Many concerned organizations, in turn, have called for the development of a “Green Economy” that emphasizes increased employment and energy cost-savings for low-income communities, while implementing strategies in renewable energy, improved public health, resource conservation and environmental clean-up. There are a number of current efforts addressing the need for equitable development in the form of pilot “Green Zones” including:
• East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice’s (EYCEJ) Green Zone campaign in the City of Commerce.14 • The Environmental Health Coalition’s (EHC) Community-Directed Land Use programs in National City and Barrio Logan, City Heights and Sherman/Logan Heights in the City of San Diego.15 • The 2014 UCLA Luskin Urban Planning Community Scholars Program report, Envisioning a Greener LA: Environmental and Economic Sustainability for Boyle Heights, Pacoima & Wilmington, which proposes 19 projects capable of effectively reducing GHG emissions as well as creating significant and lasting public health and economic benefits for EJ communities.16 • The Greenlining Institute is currently advocating for a statewide funding initiative that would supply matching grants for the planning and implementation of neighborhood-scale sustainability plans, such as the examples given here.17
Each of these initiatives focuses on pilot projects that strive to create • California Environmental Justice Alliance’s (CEJA) Green Zone replicable examples of best practices in socially and environmentally Initiative, with several urban and rural pilot programs across responsible development. Furthermore, they emphasize inclusive California.12 practices where the benefits for low-income communities are driven • A proposed Clean Up Green Up ordinance in the City of Los by strategies determined in a bottom-up process through partnerships with the communities themselves. These types of participatory Angeles supported by the Liberty Hill Foundation.13 processes rely not only on the technical expertise of climate scientists GUIDELINE EVALUATIONS
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