Landmark Climate Bill, SB 350, Signed into Law
LOS ANGELES – Senate Bill 350, Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León’s landmark climate change and clean energy legislation, was signed into law at a ceremony overlooking his district in Los Angeles on Wednesday October 7, 2015. SB 350 requires California, the largest state in the union, to generate half of its electricity from renewable energy sources and double energy efficiency in all buildings by 2030, while also substantially building the infrastructure for electric transportation. The landmark measure doubles down on California’s global leadership in powering the new economy of tomorrow. READ MORE
Time for a green-Latino electoral alliance
By Fernando Espuelas - Huffington Post 07/30/2015
Today launches a national campaign by environmental and religious groups to activate Hispanic support for climate change policies. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan initiative — projected to cut emissions from power plants, one of the primary sources of carbon pollution by 30 percent by 2030 — is the unexpected centerpiece of what promises to be a hard-fought battle for Latino voters in 2016.
Latino Voters Are Crucial To the Environmental Movement; Studies Prove Most Consider Climate Change 'Very' Important
By Roberto Ontiveros - Latin Post 06/07/2015
By Roberto Ontiveros - Latin Post 06/07/2015
With around 54 million Latinos living in the United States these day, Latino voters are easily a major factor in determining the outcomes of elections. And this turns out to be good news for any environmentally-minded politicians out there.
A new study -- which comes to us from Latino Decisions, a political opinion research group, and the nonprofit Hispanic Access Foundation -- has revealed that 80 percent of Latino voters that participated in their "2014 Election Eve Poll" believed that it was “extremely” or “very” important for the federal government to take measures in order to reduce climate changing carbon pollution.
The recently released report took into account the results of four 2014 environmental ballot initiatives from the states of Florida, California, Colorado, and New Mexico.
As Maite Arce, the president and CEO of Hispanic Access Foundation, explains, “This report provides definitive proof to what we’ve seen across the country – there is a significant, growing Latino movement that is both advocating and voting for greater environmental protections of our parks and public lands -- and having a real influence on Election Day outcomes on these issues.”
The new report corroborates an earlier The New York Times and Stanford University poll, which shows that over 54 percent of Hispanics said that global warming was “extremely” or “very important” to them personally, and that 67 percent of Hispanics stated that they would be hurt personally if nothing was done to reduce global warming.
“The Latino population is the fastest growing segment in the country,” says Arce, whose family emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico back in the 1970s. “Policy-makers need to realize that their engagement in conservation could have a far-reaching impact on elections, and the protection of our clean air, water and public lands."
A new study -- which comes to us from Latino Decisions, a political opinion research group, and the nonprofit Hispanic Access Foundation -- has revealed that 80 percent of Latino voters that participated in their "2014 Election Eve Poll" believed that it was “extremely” or “very” important for the federal government to take measures in order to reduce climate changing carbon pollution.
The recently released report took into account the results of four 2014 environmental ballot initiatives from the states of Florida, California, Colorado, and New Mexico.
As Maite Arce, the president and CEO of Hispanic Access Foundation, explains, “This report provides definitive proof to what we’ve seen across the country – there is a significant, growing Latino movement that is both advocating and voting for greater environmental protections of our parks and public lands -- and having a real influence on Election Day outcomes on these issues.”
The new report corroborates an earlier The New York Times and Stanford University poll, which shows that over 54 percent of Hispanics said that global warming was “extremely” or “very important” to them personally, and that 67 percent of Hispanics stated that they would be hurt personally if nothing was done to reduce global warming.
“The Latino population is the fastest growing segment in the country,” says Arce, whose family emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico back in the 1970s. “Policy-makers need to realize that their engagement in conservation could have a far-reaching impact on elections, and the protection of our clean air, water and public lands."