Authors: Regan Galinato, Eric Green, Hazen O'malley, Parmida Behmardi

Authors: Regan Galinato, Eric Green, Hazen O’Malley, Parmida Behmardi1

ANTHRO 25A: Environmental Injustice Instructor: Prof. Dr. Kim Fortun Department of Cultural Anthropology

Graduate Teaching Associates: Kaitlyn Rabach Tim Schütz

Undergraduate Teaching Associates Nina Parshekofteh Lafayette Pierre White

University of California Irvine, Fall 2019

1 A total of eight students contributed to this case study, some of whom chose to be anonymous. TABLE OF CONTENTS What is the setting of this case? [Collective Response] 3

How does climate change produce environmental vulnerabilities and harms in this setting? [Regan Galinato] 6

What factors -- social, cultural, political, technological, ecological -- contribute to environmental health vulnerability and injustice in this setting? [Collective Response] 10

Who are the stakeholders, what are their characteristics, and what are their perceptions of the problems? [Collective Response] 15

What have different stakeholder groups done (or not done) in response to the problems in this case? 17

How have big media outlets and environmental organizations covered environmental problems related to worse case scenarios in this setting? 19

What local actions would reduce environmental vulnerability and injustice related to fast disaster in this setting? [Parmida Behmardi] 21

What extra-local actions (at state, national or international levels) would reduce environmental vulnerability and injustice related to fast disaster in this setting and similar settings? [Hazen O’Malley] 25

What kinds of data and research would be useful in efforts to characterize and address environmental threats (related to fast disaster, pollution and climate change) in this setting and similar settings? 29

What, in your view, is ethically wrong or unjust in this case? [Eric Green] 31

BIBLIOGRAPHY (GENERATE WITH ZOTERO) 34

FIGURES 38

APPENDIX 40

1. What is the setting of this case? [Collective Response]

Fig 1. Selected area for the County of Riverside. EPA EJ Screen Report, County ​ of Riverside, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2019. Screenshot taken by author. ​

Fig 2: Demographic indicators for Riverside County. EPA EJ Screen Report, County ​ ​ ​ of Riverside, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2019. Screenshot taken by author. ​

Fig. 3: High scoring census tracts in Riverside County, CalEnviro Screen 3.0, 2019. ​ Retrieved November 23, 2019. Screenshot taken by author.

The setting of this case is Riverside, CA. Riverside has geographical features such as rivers, mountain peaks, deserts and fertile valleys” (County of Riverside 2019). Riverside is a city of over 320,000 residents, and many of these residents struggle financially, as the City's poverty rate of 16.6% is significantly higher than California's poverty rate of 13.3%. The median household income is $66,928 per year, and the median property value is $368,600. The racial makeup of Riverside is characterized by a very large presence of Hispanic or Latino individuals. In 2017 there were almost twice as many Hispanic or Latino residents than any other race or ethnicity. The most common employment sectors for the residents of Riverside include: Retail, Health care, and manufacturing. 91.4% of Riverside residents do have health insurance plans, the majority of those are employee plans, followed by medicaid.

According to Figure 2, the EJSCREEN of the city of Riverside, they are in the 99th percentile for both PM and Ozone pollution, and according to Figure 3, the CalEnviroScreen, they are in the 98th percentile for pollution burden. Because their air pollution is very significant, they are in an area called the “smog belt”, which is due to the fact that the pollution from the LA area gets blown by the wind inland towards the Riverside area, as seen in Figure 1. They are in the 83rd percentile for RMP proximity, and 93rd for wastewater discharge. The political system of Riverside is a council-manager system, where the residents elect a city manager, mayor, city council, and council committees.

2. How does climate change produce environmental vulnerabilities and harms in this setting? [Regan Galinato]

Fig 4: Average annual temperature projections in Riverside up to year 2100. Taken from https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=8b910d9c7b9744 ea94e07d82f5420782

Fig 5: Average temperature projections per month in 2050. Taken from https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=8b910d9c7b9744 ea94e07d82f5420782

Fig 6: Riverside’s agriculture industry profits in 2017. Taken from https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=4902f82d598b4b8182b 87a3c0a5867aa

Fig 7: State of drought in California from 2000 to 2019. Taken from https://www.drought.gov/drought/states/california?places=Riverside%2C%20CA%2 C%20USA%20%28Riverside%20County%29

Climate change is rapidly increasing the rate at which natural disasters are happening, and in Riverside’s case it is wildfires. California is known to have wildfires, and recently they have been becoming stronger and more frequent. They are caused by a large amount of dry vegetation that may catch fire when exposed to fast, dry winds. Climate change has significantly warmed summer temperatures in California by 3.5 Fahrenheit since the 1800s, and “The area burned across California during the summertime is about eight times higher today than it was only in the 1970s.” (Borunda 2019). As the temperature gets warmer, the dryer the vegetation will be, and the stronger the wildfires. According to a study done by Janin Guzman-Morales, who is a researcher at the University of California, San Diego, winds that may cause wildfires may become less frequent during the usual wildfire season in fall, and instead shift into winter “with longer and more intense fires later in the year” (Fountain 2019). In 2017, Santa Ana experienced winter wildfires, where in December of that year the dry winds picked up and started the Thomas fire, which burned for more than a month, which may be a sign that this can happen across California.

As temperatures rise, the climate of California will change as well. The average precipitation is expected to stay relatively constant as time goes on, but the years will vary from extremely dry to extremely wet. As seen in figure 7, there was a very serious drought in California from 2014 to 2017, and in 2018 the drought was resolved by a large amount of precipitation. This trend will continue, and get more extreme as temperatures get higher. In the years of drought there will be problems with water shortages which can affect irrigation for agriculture, and in the years of more rain there will be problems with flooding. In addition, “Such sudden swings between severe drought and intense storms will increase the threat to aging dams and flood-control networks, accentuate the wildfire threat and make management of the state’s complex waterworks even more daunting” (Boxall 2018).

Climate change will also have an impact on public health and economy in the region. Agriculture will become harder to sustain and less profitable as temperatures go up. Some of the crops that are grown in the Riverside area, such as broccoli, thrive in more temperate or cooler temperatures. As seen in figure 5, the lowest average temperature barely hits 60 degrees fahrenheit in January on the lower end of the spectrum by 2050, and this means that it may be too warm in California all year round to grow certain winter crops such as broccoli. Looking at figure 6, large parts of the profit are from certain vegetables and citrus fruits, and because certain varieties of vegetables and citrus fruits thrive in lower temperatures, it may lower profits from agriculture and weaken the economy.

Temperature changes can also affect Riverside’s already high levels of ozone. Ground level ozone is caused by nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds reacting with heat. Looking at figure 4, temperatures are projected to increase by approximately 3 Fahrenheit in 2050, which may cause ozone levels to increase. Ozone is a pollutant that aggravates the lungs, and “ Long-term exposures to higher concentrations of ozone may also be linked to permanent lung damage, such as abnormal lung development in children” (EPA 2019). This has the potential to cause more hospital visits for people who are susceptible to lung damage from ozone pollution, particularly children and people with lung diseases such as asthma.

3. What factors -- social, cultural, political, technological, ecological -- contribute to environmental health vulnerability and injustice in this setting? [Collective Response]

Fig. 8: Average wind speed patterns in Riverside, California. Wind is a huge opponent of fire containment, as it spreads embers in the air to other drier locations starting more fires. Graph courtesy from Weather Sparks.

Fig. 9: Location of the recent Hill fire in Riverside, California which shows the area in gray as the area that was burned and forced nearby houses to evacuate from. screen shot graph from The San Francisco Chronicle.

Fig. 10: General map of Riverside, California showing disadvantaged communities within the county. This disadvantage only hurts the residents dealing with fires, and the threat of anymore fires puts these communities at even greater disadvantages. Screenshot taken from California Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment.

Fig. 11: This shows the frequency of fires in the year of 2019 alone. Riverside has a long history of fires, in which residents have to respond to and find ways to protect their homes through homeowners insurance. Screenshot taken from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Ecological, social, and economic variables contribute to environmental health vulnerability and injustices in Riverside, California.

Riverside’s environment is defined as a desert. A desert is defined as an environment that receives very little precipitation, and therefore vegetation in the area will tend to be drier. Therefore drier vegetation is the formula to fires, since it is known that drier elements of nature will burn more readily (Weather Elements). On top of the nearby nature becoming much more flammable, this means that its spread could be rapid given that the lowest wind speed on average Riverside ever reaches is 5.1 mph as seen in Figure 8 ( Average Weather in Riverside, California, United States, Year Round - Weather Spark). Therefore it's likely that embers will rise into the air from their origin and spread throughout the area. On top of the drier climate and vegetation, it's likely that the ember that was lifted into the air will ignite the nearby dry vegetation. As a result, communities where vegetation/dry brush clean up is lacking, face an even greater chance of a fire in their community compared to communities where vegetation/dry brush cleanup are routinely done.

Socially, countless residents have consistency been forced to evacuate their houses due to the countless fires that continue to occur in Riverside. In the most recent fires in Riverside in the month of October 2019, named the Hill fire as seen in Figure 9, 3,600 residents were forced to evacuate their houses (Meyer 2019). This ongoing issue, continuously pushes residents to live in fear of having their houses potentially burning down, which then causes the general population to live in stress of this constant threat occuring. This long term stress then can potentially affect the general population health wise with known symptoms of depression, anxiety, and even heart disease (Mayo Clinic 2019). On top of that, this general area where the fire burned through is already considered a disadvantaged community as seen in Figure 10 (OEHHA).

To add insult to injury, economically, residents of Riverside are suffering as homeowner insurers are either raising prices of insurances, or not renewing homeowner insurance contracts with specific homeowners living in fire prone locations. The actual number of homeowners who were denied a renewal was 350,00 california residents, and a percentage of that being residents living in Riverside ( Associated Press 2019). This is a huge injustice to those living in Riverside as its known that climate change is causing fires to become more frequent as seen in Figure 11, and the need for coverage is, or at least will be in higher demand.

4. Who are the stakeholders, what are their characteristics, and what are their perceptions of the problems? [Collective Response]

Fig 12: Image of a blanket of smog covering Los Angeles, California. Courtesy image of New Hampshire Public Radio.

The first stakeholders of the air pollution problems are residents of the riverside county. According to the Lung Association’s air pollution data over a three-year period, Riverside has 122 unhealthy days for ozone level, and with the most unhealthy particle days. Reports show that a lot of progress has been made, but the increasing heat waves has caused uptick in ozone in many parts of southern California(Scauzillo). These particles in air is known to cause lung diseases. There have been reports of casualties caused by extreme high temperatures in the area.(KTLA).

The second stakeholders are the industrial sites in greater Los Angeles area that produce large amount of smog pollution, as seen in Figure 12. Smog forms when Nitrous Oxide, a by-production of combustion, react with chemicals in the air and sunlight to produce ozone. With the large number of trucking industry and strong sunlight in southern California, huge amount of deadly ozone is produced daily. With the southern California geography, air current flow through mountain passes, and carry pollutants into the inland area such as Riverside. Even though Riverside is not a heavy industrialized area, ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, together, rank as the busiest port complex in the nation. (Global site plans).

The third stakeholders are regulatory agencies such as South Coast Air Quality Management District. They are working to reduce emissions and are seeing air quality improvements. Port of Los Angeles seeing a 53% reduction in nitrous oxide emission compares to 2013. However, despite the efforts, Riverside still receive an F grade from State of the Air report in smog and ozone levels.(Schiavone).

The stakeholders include the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, or CCAEJ, a local environmentalist group, trucking and freight companies including Dynamic Trucking, Apache Winds, and Ozburn Hessey Logistics, the BNSF Railway Company, and the local residents of Riverside County. The Center for Community Action and Environmental Injustice is an organization committed to enacting social and political change and enforcing environmental and social justice for “low-income communities of color and recent immigrants who live, work, learn and play closest to rail yards, industrial areas, toxic waste facilities, intermodal facilities, freeways and other areas at greatest risk for environmental health hazards” (CCAEJ 2019). The CCAEJ fights against industry pollution with community organization, policy advocacy, civic engagement, and youth leadership. The boards and investors of the logistical companies are committed to staying in business and making profits stay high. Increased regulation or prohibition of trucking through the affected neighborhoods would certainly damage their bottom line and is likely against their wishes. As such, they do everything in their power to prevent regulation and controls. One company in particular that CCAEJ fights against is the BNSF Railway location in the nearby city of San Bernardino, which produces terrible amounts of diesel and gas pollution, which in turn carries over and affects the population of Riverside County. The local community has been largely in favor of environmental justice and the improvement of air quality, and have been advocating for and taking measures to secure their future health and the health of their children.

The stakeholders include: the residents of Riverside and the businesses which emit greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change, as well as the Fire departments responsible for fighting the ever more frequent fires facing southern California. The residents of Riverside are a majority hispanic / latino, and many face financial hardship. The businesses which emit greenhouse gases are profit driven, and operate with disregard for the environmental implications of their practices. The fire departments in Southern California are struggling to fight the ever increasing number of blazes scorching So -Cal. According to a study published in the Journal of Earth's Future, "The clearest link between California wildfire and anthropogenic climate change thus far has been via warming-driven increases in atmospheric aridity, which works to dry fuels and promote summer forest fire," Global warming has caused the atmosphere to become more arid, and as a result fires are running rampant throughout So-cal, including Riverside. Residents of Riverside feel the effects of these fires, they have to evacuate when fires get too close, their houses and businesses burn. As a result the residents believe that more should be done to address the influence of emissions on climate change, not to mention the pollution also associated with these emissions.

5. What have different stakeholder groups done (or not done) in response to the problems in this case?

Fig 13: Members of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice marching during a protest. Courtesy image from the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice.

While there are many different stakeholders within Riverside, one of the largest ones, the local government itself, has been attempting to take action against climate change and pollution since 2015. The Riverside County Climate Action Plan is a comprehensive guide on the reduction goals, policies, thresholds, and programs originally adopted in 2015 and later revised in 2018 that is designed to fight and reduce the effects of climate change in the area. The ninety three page document outlines the steps that the local government will take to reduce the environmental footprint of the county in many areas; including things like transportation, energy, agriculture, and industry. Some of these measures are as simple as ensuring that tire pressure in vehicles is maintained to manufacturer standards while others are as complicated as increasing cogenerative production in power plants, and while they all vary in their actual impact they all come together to reduce quite a fair amount of emissions. It is expected that the total reduced greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, if all goes according to plan, will be 5,534,113 MT CO2 e with the largest percentages coming from the transportation, agriculture, and energy industries (RC Planning Department, 2018).

In addition to state led projects, community lead nonprofits have also been taking action against pollution. For example, the CCAEJ (Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice) organizes residents living in heavily polluted areas of the inland empire like Riverside to create healthier neighborhoods for its residents as well as organizing local meetings to create social changes and address social inequities and injustices as seen in Figure 13. They are even involved at the policy level by working with legislators to create bills and plans that try to remedy the injustices caused by outdated policies. An example of a bill this organization helped to implement is bill SB1000. This bill, co-sponsored by state senator Connie Leyva (D-Chino) in 2017, to help advance environmental justice in land-use planning issues; allowing the residents in these neighborhoods to participate in citywide general plans.

On the other side of the aisle, those who aren't looking to end environmental injustice or pollution are the many industrial complexes in and around Riverside. These companies, such as those in the oil industry, lose the most if environmental injustice is ended; as the changes in regulation it would bring would cost them potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars. As such they have attempted to stop these changes, primarily by funding political campaigns and getting representative on their side. An example of this is Cheryl Brown who was accused to support the development of some of the companies that cause heavy pollution like Chevron and Big Oil in the Inland Empire. League political director James Johnson quoted that Brown sided with big companies to fuel her campaign rather than act to protect the health of her constituents (Horseman). And last, but most certainly not least, are the residents of Riverside themselves. The general population is by no means blameless when it comes to the current state of pollution in Riverside, take for example transportation which accounts for nearly forty percent of smog and carbon production. In recent years however as the public has become more aware of climate change and pollution some people have started to take action to fight against both it and its effects however they can, whether it be through individual action or through nonprofits like CCAEJ. Some of these people even make it their career; take for example firefighters, a stakeholder in their own right, who put their lives on the line fighting the many fires in the area that are a result of climate change and drought.

6. How have big media outlets and environmental organizations covered environmental problems related to worse case scenarios in this setting?

Fig 14: American Lung Association grading Riverside as a “fail”, along with statistics on high Ozone Days (mainly at 100+)

For the most part, Media outlets and environmental organizations have been fairly critical of the conditions in Riverside, or at least the articles that were scattered across the internet did. One interesting point is just that: scarcity of information. The reports written on Riverside simply include it as one of many cities stricken with pollution rather than individually. A large attribute of this pollution is covered by many media outlets: Fires in Southern California. Riverside is located between Mountains, that consequently suffer the most during wildfires, which is caused by heavy traffic flow in the surrounding cities and Oil plants. To redirect my point, the causes of Riverside pollution are mainly Geographical, therefore many media outlets focus on simply that. NBC covered the community of Riverside as having air that “poses a threat to roughly 377,000 residents diagnosed with pediatric and adult asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and cardiovascular disease” (NBC, 2019). Local news sources such as the LA Times stated that “Health effects from ozone pollution have remained essentially unchanged,'' which ​ in the simplest sense is extremely problematic for the health of Children in polluted cities, especially those that are situated around Los Angeles (LA T, 2019). When the air becomes polluted to the point where it could trigger an asthma attack, or even develop just that, it becomes a truly terrifying conflict for the people situated there. Even after all these criticisms on disgusting, unhealthy air, it’d be relieving to be able to find more information about the status of the air, especially for the population of Riverside. It is unjust knowing that Riverside has more than “100+ high ozone days per year” (ALA, 2017) as seen in Figure 14. Simply put, every year that passes with these conditions, the more diseases begin developing because of the air. There needs to be some form of change in the way that Los Angeles and numerous other cities handle cleaning the air in their communities. Would places such as Riverside reduce their high ozone levels with tactics used for decreasing traffic and cleaning air, even with the circumstantial placement of the community itself? With global warming creating these rampant conditions for these types of fires in Southern California to transpire, communities such as Riverside will be one of many counties could force individuals living there to be displaced. With high hopes, it is possible to have higher exposure to the negative effects of pollution in smaller communities, such as Riverside.

7. What local actions would reduce environmental vulnerability and injustice related to fast disaster in this setting? [Parmida Behmardi]

Fig 15: Photo of traffic in Riverside on Inland Empire Road from https://www.ie511.org/traffic/road-conditions. ​

Fig 16: The chart of 2008 and 2020 GHG Emissions Comparison. Screenshot taken by author from County of Riverside: Climate Change Plan. 2018 ​ https://planning.rctlma.org/Portals/14/CAP/CAP_071717.pdf. ​

Fig 17: The photo of solar panels on the roof of Riverside High School. Accessed the ​ photo from http://otterenergy.com/recent-projects/riverside-high-school/. ​ ​

Fig 18: The fire destroying 74 homes in riverside. The photo was taken from abc7 “Sandalwood Fire: 74 Structures Destroyed after Fire Sparked by Burning Trash Rips through Mobile Home Park.”

Riverside country houses more than 2.3 million individuals generating a total of 5.5 million metric tons of CO (Planning 2018, 7-11). The biggest contributors to the total 2​ CO emissions consist of; transportation, energy, purchased water, solid waste, and ​2 agricultural. The increase of CO2 emissions is the underlying cause of climate change that ​ ​ has resulted in greater natural disaster.

Possibly the biggest contributor to CO emissions is transportation with the ​2 millions of vehicles on the road (Fig.15). Many programs and regulation have been put in place within the county limits including; “tire pressure program”, “low friction engine oil”

(Planning 2018, 4-3), and others that are meant to reduce the CO2 emission output by ​ ​ vehicles, by making them run more efficient. This will not be enough to reduce CO ​2 emissions; more drastic measures need to be taken. The public needs to be influenced to lean towards more hybrid or fully electric vehicles. The county has already placed in some programs to do so; “goods movement efficiency measures”, and “medium and heavy-Duty vehicle hybridization” (Planning 2018, 4-3). Placing more programs and initiatives for individuals and companies to own and operate electric or hybrid vehicles will greatly reduce the CO emissions. Giving everyone an incentive to start path into a ​2 future where electric and hybrid cars become the new norm. Commercial vehicles can take a different approach using more clean combustion vehicles like natural gas. Which will reduce the overall carbon footprint.

Another course of action that needs to be taken is the reduction of purchasing water. With the purchasing of water comes the making of plastic water bottles. Which creates a carbon footprint and as well as disposing of them. The carbon footprint that is caused by the purchasing of water is nearly 150,000 metric tons of CO2 within the ​ ​ Riverside county (Fig.16) (Planning 2018, ES-2). Reducing water purchasing and encoring the public to use reusable water bottles would drastically reduce CO emissions. Doing ​2 so will reduce the carbon footprint that comes from transporting water, and also the huge cost reduction as well (Riverside CA 2014, 3-8). This will also reduce contamination ​ of nearby lakes, streams, and oceans. Helping marine and other natural habitats to not be disturbed which can as well reduce the overall CO2 emissions. Purchasing water might ​ ​ only be about 2% of the total footprint but reducing it to nothing will decrease the other major areas like; transportation, energy, and solid waste as well. This is probably the easiest area that action can be taken to help slow down climate change, due to its low cost as many programs can be put in place to promote the use of reusable bottles and less use of plastic ones.

One course of action that can be taken is the use of more renewable sources of energy like solar and wind. To create enough energy for the entire county of Riverside its outputs about 3 million metric tons of CO2 every year (Planning 2018, 3-7), which is ​ ​ about 22% of the total emissions for the year. Using renewable energy sources can be costly for both the government and the individual. But in the long term run it will greatly reduce the cost of electricity for buildings and the overall CO2 emissions. Some schools, ​ ​ for example Riverside High School (Fig. 17), have already undergone changes and the installation of solar panels within the parking lot and on the buildings. Doing so has reduce the cost of the electricity for the school to pay and as well reduced emissions. This change can start with government facilities as they are already spending over 10 million dollars in electricity bills (Planning 2018, 3-4), the installation of the solar panel will reduce that cost and as well as helping lower emissions. Also giving incentives or creating programs that can influence home and business owners to install and use solar panels.

The priority action that should be put into play to complete and that will affect the

CO2 emissions with minimal cost and effort, is the reduction or possible the stop of ​ ​ purchasing water. There is nothing wrong with purchasing water, it is the container that it is encased in. The plastic container costs money and creates a carbon footprint when it created and then when it is recycled. The carbon footprint for a single 1.5-liter bottle is about 1.6 ounces, it may not see as much but when added up with all the other bottles that are used it generates nearly 31 billion pounds of CO2 (tappwater 2019). Equal to 5 ​ ​ million cars driving 6 km. implying regulations or programs promoting the use of reusable water bottles. At the same time placing higher taxes on plastic water bottles sales, and other regulations. Since the use of water bottles have effects on a multitude of areas. It has an image on marine life and other species and organism that help reduce emissions, when not disposed of properly. Even when disposed of properly it will cost money for transportation which by itself also has a carbon footprint. Also, when being melted and recycle will create more of a carbon footprint. Taking this course of action is least cost effective and creates the biggest impact on reducing the carbon footprint. It can also be a pathway for more regulations to start up.

Reducing our carbon footprint will affect the climate change greatly. The climate change that is taking place all over the world, with more intense natural disasters, fires, and widespread of disease can be counter reacted, if we act now and act fast. Acting on these courses of action and other ones like it will help with the reduction of our carbon footprint and therefore reduce and hopefully inverter climate change.

8. What extra-local actions (at state, national or international levels) would reduce environmental vulnerability and injustice related to fast disaster in this setting and similar settings? [Hazen O’Malley]

Fig 19: Los Angeles smog levels graph versus time comparing major cities

Fig 20: Illuminating photo of Los Angeles smog, which accumulates in the inland counties like Riverside and San Bernardino

Fig 21: The 710 Interstate Freeway, an example of a freeway the EPA is attempting to clean up.

Fig 22: The California Pollution Control Financing Authority (CPCFA), a program created to invest in small businesses to insure the financial well-being and environmental compliance of the state.

In general it is understood that the fires that threaten Riverside County are exacerbated by climate change, which is caused primarily by the increasing amount of greenhouse gases we pump into the air, which also has an impact on the health of the local population. Southern California’s air quality has been steadily improving since its lows in the 1970’s and 80’s, but its positive trend recently took a significant dip in the wrong direction as seen in Figure 19. This dip is part of a national regression with respect to progress toward cleaner air. But nowhere is more impacted than Southern California, with disadvantaged inland communities like Riverside hit the worst. This crisis has unleashed a torrent of legislation and ire from the State Senate and national agencies like the EPA. According to LA Times reporters, “California regulators must present the ​ federal government with a plan demonstrating they are on track to slash ozone pollution. Officials say it will take billions in spending to meet smog-reduction deadlines under the Clean Air Act” (Barboza and Mukherjee 2019). There’s only one problem: nobody knows ​ where that money will come from. One potential solution here is for the Federal Government to divert funds from a different project, or introduce a new carbon-tax to both cut down on emissions and fund projects like this one that require massive amounts of money to clean up messes that the taxed companies introduced and continue to contribute to. Multiple bills introduced in the Senate have been drafted to create some kind of carbon-tax such as the CAR Act, the SWAP Act, and the RWCC Act, with the RWCC Act even being introduced as a bill with bipartisan support, indicating that there is support for this kind of tax on both sides of the aisle, though where the funds go would likely be up for terse debate. Another solution to the air quality problem in Riverside comes in the form of a lawsuit filed against the Southern California Air Quality Board. The case is brought forth by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice, an environmental law nonprofit ​ that represents powerful environmental organizations like Community for a Better Environment and the Sierra Club. The case claims that the Board has “does not live up to ​ this mandated standard, and instead perpetuates a program where some of the largest polluting sources, like refineries, simply pay to pollute, instead of installing life-saving pollution controls” (Barboza 2019). This case comes after the newly Republican majority board elected to implement a payment method for over-polluting instead of a mitigating measure which is believed would be more effective. Lawsuits like this one are part of the extra-local solution. The out of control smog levels are readily apparent in the example photo in Figure 20. By getting national level organizations and their associated law firms involved, it makes for a stronger policy against the environmental issues that plague all of Southern California, but especially in places like Riverside where pollution is so rampant and concentrated, having a disproportionate impact on communities of color. A third solution that the EPA is undertaking in a similar location is the clean-up and limitation of pollution on the 710 Interstate Freeway as seen in Figure 21. The EPA is working toward reducing the impact of the freeway on the surrounding area with a variety of tools, primarily looking to foster long-term relationships with local organizations and initiatives and supply them with funds and resources. A program like this could very easily be implemented in Riverside, and used to clean up and make the freeways safer for the surrounding communities. The plan could be implemented again on the freeways that weave across the county such as freeways 10, 15, and 215. Doing such a clean-up would hopefully greatly reduce damage from the personal and commercial vehicles that frequent said freeways upon the neighborhoods surrounded by warehouses and distribution centers. The final and most vital extra-local action that could be undertaken is more legislation by the California Senate targeting pollution and funding programs that fight pollution. A good example of implementation of this idea is the California Pollution Control Financial Authority (CPCFA) as depicted in Figure 22. The CPCFA provides loans to small businesses so that the government can “assist qualifying small businesses in financing the ​ costs of complying with environmental mandates and the remediation of contamination on their properties” (Reyes 2019). In California Assembly Bill 474, the state senate ​ refunds and redirects the agency, specifying their mission more closely. Thus it continues to support a good agency that helps those who often struggle with compliance with environmental regulations: small businesses. Investment by agencies like this into Riverside would help fuel the local economy, breaking the cycle of poverty, and do so while supporting a cleaner environment, in a similar manner to how the Green New Deal proposes moving forward by thinning the wage gap and adhering to environmental policy.

9. What kinds of data and research would be useful in efforts to characterize and address environmental threats (related to fast disaster, pollution and climate change) in this setting and similar settings? (Here, too, you can draw ideas from advocacy organization and reports.)

Fig 23 The devastation caused by the Sandalwood Fire, in Riverside County, CA.

Fires will continue to occur in Riverside, California due to climate change, but efforts in a push for data and research could possibly slow down the effects of climate change. Specifically research on environment friendlier cars could reduce greenhouse emissions, and more data and investigation concerning the economic impact of the devastation caused by climate change. In Riverside specifically, they have problems of slow disaster and climate change, due to their large amounts of air pollution and more frequent wildfires. Much of the air pollution is due to ozone and particulate matter getting carried by the wind from the Los Angeles area inland towards Riverside. It would be impossible to try and prevent this natural phenomenon from occurring, so the most effective way to reduce the air pollution in Riverside would be to reduce the air pollution in Los Angeles. Ground level ozone is formed from nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds combined with heat, and because of this climate change increases the amount of ozone pollution as the temperature gets higher. Wildfires also increase ozone and particulate matter levels, because “Wildfire smoke contains particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and various volatile organic compounds (which are ozone precursors) and can significantly decrease air quality” (CDC). Ozone pollution can be reduced by reducing the amount of emissions from burning fossil fuels, particularly from burning gas in cars, which is one of the main sources of pollution in LA. Research on making more fuel efficient cars that reduce the nitrogen oxide and greenhouse gas emissions would be important, as well as being able to put this new technology into action is important to reducing air pollution. In addition, more data should be taken on how trends in diseases such as asthma occur in the coming years.

Another environmental threat facing Riverside is the increase in wildfires as a result of the more arid climate brought on by global climate change. According to a study published in the Journal of Earth’s future, "The clearest link between California wildfire and anthropogenic climate change thus far has been via warming-driven increases in atmospheric aridity, which works to dry fuels and promote summer forest fire," Riverside is especially vulnerable to the effects of these blazes as, “Riverside County supervisors approved a local emergency proclamation Thursday connected to last week's deadly blaze in Calimesa, as seen in Figure 23, as well as three other wind-driven brush fires, enabling the county and victims to obtain assistance from state and federal sources” according to NBC Los Angeles. It is well established that global warming, fueled by human activities which cause the emission of green-house gases, is causing an increase in the severity of wildfires. Yet, even though this link is well established, many are still dragging their heels on enacting serious reform in order to address the crisis of climate change, One of the principle rationals given for the lack of proactive response to climate change is concern over the economic impact of climate change reform. For this reason, additional data and research concerning the economic impact of the devastation caused by climate change would be very valuable in convincing people that climate change reform isn’t just vital to save the planet, but also presents real economic incentives for Riverside homeowners and businesses.

10. What, in your view, is ethically wrong or unjust in this case? [Eric Green] (Here, list specific kinds of injustices (data, economic, epistemic, gender, health, intergenerational, media, procedural, racial, or reproductive) that appear in your community of focus)

Fig 24: One of the many comments submitted to the city of Riverside regarding the Riverside Transmission Reliability Project. The sender, Oscar Reynoso, describes his concerns on the to be built overhead power lines, and the danger they are to his general area.

Climate change is known for its effects on various different environments throughout the world, however its effect can also be seen at a deeper level where certain scenarios in civilization have become unjust, and life is not prioritized. These are considered unjust cases. Climate change’s effect on Riverside, California have been the root for various unjust cases. Specifically, intergenerational, economic, health, and procedural injustices have derived from this area. With time, climate change will only get worse, and as temperatures rise, the magnitudes of its effects on Riverside, California will too. This a form of Intergenerational injustice since it will only be the future generations who will suffer the most from the effects of climate change in Riverside. Temperatures worldwide are predicted to increase 5.4- 9.0 degrees fahrenheit by 2100 (Reuters 2018). Provided this, high temperatures have an inverse relationship with precipitation. Extreme heat causes ​ systems to release water vapor, and as a result it dries out the system making it easier for the system to catch on fire (Weather Elements). Therefore, this means that as time progresses, future generations will experience fire risks higher than ever, uncontainable fires, and unlivable environments. In addition, another unjust case is Riversides ability to add housing despite the high fire risk. By building more houses, it turns into an economic gain, ultimately an overall economic injustice, for the city since its success with the already built homes have had an upward trend in price annually, and as a result property taxes, which in the end is city revenue, are the highest they have ever been (Data USA). However what is not considered is that with more civilization comes a higher risk of putting many more lives at risk in an environment where fires are prone to ignite. Yet despite these risks, the city of Riverside has continued to build more affordable housing, key word affordable, to lure in lower income to an area where fires are extremely common (Inland Empire Us 2019). This unjust scheme is set up for a large economic gain for the city, at the cost of putting the lives of the residents at risk as they trade-off their safety and health, for affordable housing. And with this trade-off, a health injustice is born. The most obvious health disparity in this environment is exposure to fire and poor air quality due to debris burned. Provided the changes that climate change bring to the environment of Riverside, the economic injustice ties into a health injustice since riverside is encouraging the population move there, despite the danger of fires in the area. And on top of that, there has been a huge lack of procedural justice to alleviate or help prevent further fires. In the past 2 decades California has seen record breaking fires, and many of them caused by electrical lines (Atkinson 2018). Therefore many cities throughout California have begun burying their power lines underground to prevent these fires from occurring, however riverside has not, and hasn’t planned to do so. Failing to contribute to fire prevention, and safety of the general population in Riverside, many concerns on overhead power lines have made their way to the city of Riverside, specifically concerns for the Riverside Transmission Reliability Project. Riverside plans to partner up with Southern California Edison to install 10 miles worth of overhead high voltage power lines (Riverside Transmission Reliability Project). However the public has ​ ​ responded to this by submitting comments on this project to the city of Riverside on this issue. As seen in Figure 24, it’s seen that Oscar Reynoso, along with many other ​ residents, aren’t comfortable having more overhead power lines due to the dangers it has on the environment as a whole. Despite the frequency of fires in Riverside, the city has no plans of slowing down the momentum of this project. Here, procedural injustice is disguised as an innovation that is supposed to better the city. But instead it fails to address environmental hazards, which in turn place the health and safety of the residents in Riverside, California at an even higher risk than before. In my view, I believe that this is ethically wrong because these schemes not only deceive the public, but put human safety below city revenue. Climate change’s effect on Riverside, California will only worsen as the city continues to invest in plans that have only economic returns.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (GENERATE WITH ZOTERO) Atkinson, William, and Rick Laezman. 2018. “The Link Between Power Lines and Wildfires.” ElectricalContractorMagazine.November. ​ ​ https://www.ecmag.com/section/systems/link-between-power-lines-and-wildfires. ​

Associated Press. 2019. “Insurers Drop Almost 350,000 California Homeowners in High-Fire Risk Areas.” San Bernardino Sun. San Bernardino Sun. August 23. ​ ​ https://www.sbsun.com/2019/08/22/california-insurers-drop-policies-in-high-fire-risk- areas/. ​

Barboza, Tony, and Rahul Mukherjee. 2019. “Must Reads: The War on Southern California Smog Is Slipping. Fixing It Is a $14-Billion Problem - Los Angeles Times.” Newspaper Article. Los Angeles Times. July 1, 2019. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-smog-southern-california-2019070 1-story.html. ​ Barboza, Tony. 2019. “Southern California Air Quality Board Is Sued over Adoption of Industry-Friendly Smog Rules - Los Angeles Times.” Newspaper Article. Los Angeles Times. March 9, 2019. https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0310-air-board-lawsuit-20160310-stor y.html. ​

Barboza, Tony. “Must Reads: The War on Southern California Smog Is Slipping. Fixing It Is a $14-Billion Problem.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, July 1, 2019. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-smog-southern-california-20190701-sto ry.html. ​

Boxall, Bettina. “Climate Change Will Make California's Drought-Flood Cycle More Volatile, Study Finds.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, April 24, 2018. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-drought-flood-20180423-story.html. ​ Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. http://ccaej.org/policy-advocacy/.

“Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk.” 2019. Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for ​ ​ Medical EducationandResearch.March19. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-2 0046037. ​ CNN, Ray Sanchez and Brandon Miller. “Here’s How Climate Change-Driven Fires Are Changing Life in the Golden State.” CNN. Accessed November 19, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/29/weather/california-us-wildfires-climate-change/inde x.html

CNN, Madeline Holcombe and Joe Sutton. “Yet Another Fire Broke out in California This Morning as Firefighters Continue to Battle Blazes across the State.” CNN. Accessed November 16, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/31/us/california-46-fire-riverside-county/index.html. ​ CCAEJ. “Community Organizing - Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice .” Accessed November 19, 2019. http://ccaej.org/organizing/. ​ ​

“City of Riverside Receives More Than $32 Million in State Funds for New Affordable Housing.”2019.InlandEmpire.us.June22. ​ ​ https://inlandempire.us/city-of-riverside-receives-more-than-32-million-in-state-funds- for-new-affordable-housing/. ​

Scauzillo, Steve. “Southern California still has some of the worst air pollution in the country, report find”, Los Angeles Daily News, November 21st, 2018. https://www.dailynews.com/2018/04/18/southern-california-has-some-of-the-worst-ai r-pollution-in-the-country-report-finds/. ​

Service, City News. “Riverside County Receives 'F' for Air Quality.” NBC Southern California. NBC Southern California, April 24, 2019. https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Riverside-County-Receives-F-for-Air-Qu ality-509022601.html. ​

Bloom, Tracy. Friel Courtney. Wolfe,Chris. “6 deaths Tied to High Temperatures in Riverside County, Health Officials Say”. KTLA5. July 24th,2018. https://ktla.com/2018/07/24/4-deaths-blamed-on-heat-in-riverside-county-health-offic ials-say/. ​

Schiavone, Renee. “Here’s How Dirty Riverside County’s Air Really Is”. Patch. April 254th,2019. https://patch.com/california/banning-beaumont/here-s-how-dirty-riverside-countys-air -really. ​

McCarty, Kevin. 2019. Bill Text - Wildfire Smoke Air Pollution Emergency Plan: Sacramento ​ Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. Vol. AB-661. ​ https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200 AB661&search_keywords=pollution. ​ Reyes, Eloise. 2019. Bill Text - Capital Access Loan Program for Small Businesses. Vol. ​ AB-474. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200 AB474. ​ US EPA, OA. 2016. “Los Angeles Area Environmental Enforcement Collaborative.” Overviews and Factsheets. US EPA. March 14, 2016. https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/los-angeles-area-environmental-en forcement-collaborative. ​ Riverside CA. 2014. “Riverside Restorative Growthprint: Climate Change Plan.”. https://riversideca.gov/planning/rrg/RRG-CAP_GAP%20Draft_100214.pdf. ​ Riverside County Climate Action Plan.” n.d. Accessed November 19, 2019. https://planning.rctlma.org/CAP. ​

“Riverside Transmission Reliability Project.” 2019. Riverside Transmission Reliability ​ Project | JurupaValley,CA.AccessedNovember22. ​ https://www.jurupavalley.org/312/Riverside-Transmission-Reliability-Proje. ​

“Riverside,CA.”2019.DataUSA.AccessedNovember22. ​ ​ https://datausa.io/profile/geo/riverside-ca/#housing. ​ “Riverside.” American Lung Association. Accessed November 24, 2019. https://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/sota/city-rankings/states/california/ riverside.html. ​

Planning. 2018.“County of Riverside: Climate Change Plan.” July 17. https://planning.rctlma.org/Portals/14/CAP/CAP_071717.pdf. ​ “PublicComments.”2018.CPUC. ​ ​ https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/environment/info/panoramaenv/RTRP/PDF/Public_Comment s/Public_comments.pdf. ​ “What Is the Carbon Footprint of Bottled Water?” 2019. TappWater. June 14. https://tappwater.co/us/carbon-footprint-bottled-water/. ​ Meyer, Matt. 2019. “Riverside Wildfire Destroys Homes, Threatens Animal Shelter.” fox5sandiego.Com.October31. ​ https://fox5sandiego.com/2019/10/31/watch-live-riverside-wildfire-prompts-evacuatio ns-destroys-homes/. ​ “Global Temperatures on Track for 3-5 Degree Rise by 2100: U.N.” 2018. Reuters. ​ ​ Thomson Reuters.November29. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-un/global-temperatures-on-track-f or-3-5-degree-rise-by-2100-u-n-idUSKCN1NY186. ​ “New Homes in Riverside-San Bernardino, CA: 340 Communities.” 2019. NewHomeSource. Accessed November 20. ​ https://www.newhomesource.com/communities/ca/riverside-san-bernardino-area. ​ Nightingale, Sarah. 2018. “Climate Change Predicted to Bring More Extremes to Inland Southern California.” UCR Today. August 27. https://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/55022 ​ ​ ​

“Health Effects of Ozone Pollution.” EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, July 30, 2019. https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/health-effects-ozone-pollution. ​

Horseman, Jeff. “Cheryl Brown isn’t happy about being added to this list”, The Press-Enterprise. October 19th, 2016. ​ ​ https://www.pe.com/2016/10/19/cheryl-brown-isnt-happy-about-being-added-to-this-l ist/. ​

Fountain, Henry. “How Climate Change Could Shift California’s Santa Ana Winds, Fueling Fires.” The New York Times, October 29, 2019, sec. Climate. ​ ​ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/climate/santa-ana-winds.html. ​

“Weather Elements That Affect Fire Behavior.” 2019. Weather Elements. Accessed ​ ​ November 20. https://www.auburn.edu/academic/forestry_wildlife/fire/weather_elements.htm. ​ “WeatherSpark.com.” 2019. Average Weather in Riverside, California, United States, Year ​ Round - Weather Spark. Accessed November 20. ​ https://weatherspark.com/y/1891/Average-Weather-in-Riverside-California-United-St ates-Year-Round. ​ 2019. Oehha.ca.gov. OEHHA. Accessed November 24. ​ ​ https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/sb535. ​

FIGURES

Fig. 1 “CAlEnviroScreen 3.0.” 2018. California Office of Environmental Health Hazard ​ Assessment. June 2018. https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/report/calenviroscreen-30. ​ ​ Fig. 2 “EJSCREEN Report.Pdf.” n.d.https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/ejscreen_SOE.aspx ​ ​ Fig. 3 “EJSCREEN Report.Pdf.” n.d.https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/ejscreen_SOE.aspx ​ ​ Fig. 4 “Riverside, CA,” U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit. Accessed November 23, 2019, https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=8b910d9c7b9744ea 94e07d82f5420782 Fig. 5 “Riverside, CA,” U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit. Accessed November 23, 2019, https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=8b910d9c7b9744ea 94e07d82f5420782 Fig.6 “Riverside Country Agriculture,” Riverside County 2017 Agricultural Crop Report. Accessed November 23, 2019, https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=4902f82d598b4b8182b8 7a3c0a5867aa Fig.7 “Drought in California,” U.S. Drought Portal, National Integrated Drought Information System accessed November 23, 2019, https://www.drought.gov/drought/states/california?places=Riverside%2C%20CA%2C% 20USA%20%28Riverside%20County%29. ​ “About the County.” 2019. County of Riverside. Accessed November 19. ​ ​ https://www.countyofriverside.us/AboutTheCounty.aspx

“U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Riverside County, California; Riverside City, California; United States.” 2019. Census Bureau QuickFacts. Accessed November 19. ​ ​ https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/riversidecountycalifornia,riversidecitycal ifornia,US/PST045218

Fig.8 “WeatherSpark.com.” 2019. Average Weather in Riverside, California, United States, ​ ​ Year Round - Weather Spark. Accessed November 20. ​ https://weatherspark.com/y/1891/Average-Weather-in-Riverside-California-United-St ates-Year-Round. ​

Fig.9 Wagstaff, Evan, Lucio Villa, and Tim O'Rourke. 2019. “California Fire Tracker: The ​ Latest on the Hill Fire in Riverside County.” The San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco ​ ​ Chronicle. November 22. https://projects.sfchronicle.com/trackers/california-fire-map/2019-hill-fire. ​

Fig. 10 2019. Oehha.ca.gov. OEHHA. Accessed November 24. ​ ​ ​ https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/sb535. ​

Fig. 11California Department of Forestry. 2019. “Welcome to Incidents.” Organization ​ ​ Image. Accessed November 24. ​ https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/IncidentSearch?q=Riverside. ​

Fig. 12 “Progress on Smog in Los Angeles.” 2019. New Hampshire Public Radio. Accessed ​ ​ ​ November 24. https://www.nhpr.org/post/progress-smog-los-angeles#stream/0. ​ ​

Fig. 13 “Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice.” 2019. Cover Photos. ​ ​ ​ Accessed November 24. https://m.facebook.com/CCAEJ/photos/a.222069054637611/991190597725449/?typ e=3&source=54&ref=page_internal. ​

Fig. 14 “Riverside.” American Lung Association. Accessed November 24, 2019. https://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/sota/city-rankings/states/california/ riverside.html. Fig. 15 INLAND EMPIRE ROAD CONDITIONS AND CONSTRUCTION INFORMATION. n.d. ​ ​ https://www.ie511.org/traffic/road-conditions. ​ Fig. 16 Planning. 2018.“County of Riverside: Climate Change Plan.” July 17. ​ https://planning.rctlma.org/Portals/14/CAP/CAP_071717.pdf. ​ Fig. 17 “Riverside High School.” 2016. Otter Energy. Accessed November 22,2019. ​ http://otterenergy.com/recent-projects/riverside-high-school/. ​ Fig. 18 “Sandalwood Fire: 74 Structures Destroyed after Fire Sparked by Burning Trash Rips ​ through Mobile Home Park.” 2019. News. ABC7. October 10, 2019. https://abc7.com/74-homes-destroyed-in-fire-at-calimesa-mobile-home-park/5609428/. ​ Fig. 19 Rahul, Mukherjee. 2019. L.A. Smog Levels since 2001. Los Angeles Times. ​ ​ https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6963f71/2147483647/strip/true/cr op/1125x1341+0+0/resize/840x1001!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-ti mes-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc2%2Fa6%2F4d6b761ac8175fb3fcf6b40c9e41 %2Fla-1561752905-2p7grxii1i-snap-image. ​ Fig. 20 Danelski, David. 2017. State Air Board OKs Southern California Smog Plan. San ​ ​ Gabriel Valley Tribune. https://www.sgvtribune.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2017/201703/NEWS_170 329749_AR_0_JYJZYXNODWCN.jpg?w=879. ​ Fig. 21 Esri. 2009. Targeted Brownfields Assessment Program Sites. Computer Graphics. ​ ​ EPA. https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/www3/region9/waste/ust/710corridor/pdf/71 0-corridor-brownfields-map-ust.pdf. ​ Fig. 22 CPCFA. n.d. CPCFA Logo and Graphic. Computer Graphics. California Business ​ ​ Incentives Gateway. Accessed November 23, 2019.

Fig. 23 City New Service. 2019. Mobile Homes and Cars Are Reduced to Rubble in the ​ Sandalwood Fire Oct. 14, 2019. Computer Graphics. NBC. ​ https://media.nbclosangeles.com/images/652*367/calimesa-cropped-fire-riverside-201 9.jpg. ​

Fig.24“PublicComments.”2018.CPUC. ​ ​ ​ https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/environment/info/panoramaenv/RTRP/PDF/Public_Comment s/Public_comments.pdf. ​

APPENDIX

FIGURES

SKETCHES

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT PHOTO

Regan Galinato is a 1st year Environmental Engineering Major student at the University of California, Irvine. She is interested in issues involving climate change, pollution, and water sources, and believes that humans must work hard to overcome future environmental problems that stem from these issues.

Hazen O’Malley is a 2nd year Civil Engineering Major at the University of California Irvine. He is interested in art, the environment, and working to help communities in need. He believes that we need to come together and work towards a brighter future with green engineering, design, and forward thinking.

Parmida behmardi is a 4th year at the University of California, Irvine student in Psychological science major. Her goal is to become an Art therapist to be able to help children that have been hurt badly. She believes that physical wounds might heal but the individual is not truly healed till the mind heals too. She has also been interested in nature and the environment and she is looking into ways that she can help this environment crisis. She believes that even one person can make a difference.

Eric Green is an undergraduate at the University of California Studying Biological Sciences. Through studying his major, he has understood biologically how all life reacts to certain stimulus and environments. On top of that through the chemistry background studying biology, he has also understood chemically how inorganic and some organic chemicals pose a threat to the human body and its overall being. Through his studies he hopes to pursue a field in epidemiology to help educate communities how our bodies react to certain environments and toxins.

Kahoot MC Questions What video relates to this concept? What articles have we read that relate to this? What are some examples? From the course? From your case studies? Why are people having trouble with this question? Would someone like to offer an explanation?

Combo Disaster SKETCHES ***All of these sketches will be included in the case study assignments

DISASTER CAPITALISM SKETCH

Using this week’s concept of “disaster capitalism” sketch situations, examples, and solutions ​ ​

Situation that could produce a Example of disaster capitalism Actions that would hinder setting for disaster capitalism disaster capitalism

free public housing fire increase in rent

gov assistance flood charging for towels, blankets, food

free clinics earthquake large copayments for clinics, selling water bottles

free bus system hurricane charging for transportation out of hurricane touchdown area

Government assistance with tsunami Buying up beachside land in rebuilding and community poorer neighborhoods protections and selling them for exorbitant prices and a massive windfall

Fixing the problems that caused lead poisoning Charging for medical care the poisoning

Price controls on water drought Increase price of water companies Provide all supplies and industrial disaster Sell essential medical necessary items required by supplies and filters at people until they recover (i.e increased prices medical costs)

CHOOSING A COMBO DISASTER COMMUNITY SKETCH

Resources: ● Search community name and “climate change” or “pollution” “disparities” or “environmental injustice” or “just transition” or “racism” ● US EPA My Environment ● CalEnviroScreen 3.0 ● World's Air Pollution: Real-time Air Quality Index (Worldwide) ​ ● U.S. Government Accountability Office (USA) – Disposal of High-Level Nuclear ​ Waste ● California Open Data Portal (California) ​ ● EdSource: Chronic School Absenteeism (California) ​ ● California Healthy Places Index (California) ​ ● Lung.org Most Polluted Cities (USA) ​ ● Mapping LA (Los Angeles) – Crime, Education, Income by neighborhood) ​ ● RWJ Resources for Cultures of Health ● California Poverty Facts

Questions to Consider: Community 1: Chico Community 2: Riverside

Does the community’s Yes, talks about camp fire in No, but does talk about air Wikipedia page give any clues to 2018 pollution issues climate change harms or environmental harms?

Are there local environmental no Yes- Riverside Land groups in this community? Conservancy (Possible search term: environmental justice)

What is the RMP potential in 27 83 EPA EJ Scree n?

Is the community listed in either No Yes of these resources? Who’s in ​ Danger? (starting on page 59) ​ /// California Fact Sheet ​ According to the American Lung F F Association, is the community’s state of air rating? ​

COMMUNITY FAST FACTS SKETCH

Combo Disaster Community: Riverside

Conduct a “quick” Google search for fast facts about your community: What is the landscape? How densely populated? Main industries? Overall wealth of the region? Brief history? Find quick resources/articles about the community: Recent news? What are the environmental groups? Environmental News? Community vulnerabilities?

Google Search News Resources

● Riverside is the Chaparral biome https://www.pe.com/2019/11/02/containmen ● Population density of 3,745 people per t-grows-for-latest-wildfires-in-riverside-count square mile y-hillside-fire-in-san-bernardino-in-mop-up/ ● Environmental group- Riverside Land Conservancy https://www.thecommunityfoundation.net/no ● On what’s called the “smog belt”- area nprofit-spotlight/523-riverside-land-conserva with large amounts of air pollution ncy-2 from the Los Angeles area ● There have been four wildfires in https://www.riversideca.gov/visiting-aboutriv. Riverside in 2019; the Hill fire, 46 fire, asp Sobrante fire, and the Hillside fire. All have been fully contained. ● Founded in 1870, and started as a citrus industry

LOCAL ACTIONS SKETCH (community)

Combo Disaster Community: Riverside

Identify a Problem Identify ways this problem is Tailor these solutions to your being addressed elsewhere (if Combo Disaster community at all)

Fires The halt of house development

Diesel pollution Tighter restrictions on Lessen the use of fossil fuel vehicles

Lack of information about Grants and research done to Have petition and help pollution in schools develop this kind of student have better future curriculum

CO2 Emission Transportation and traffic Cleaning the air of Riverside control

Water purchase Waste Reusable bottles for bottles Carbon Footprint if left alone so have to fix it.

EXTRA-LOCAL ACTIONS SKETCH (state + federal ish)

Combo Disaster: Riverside

Identify a Problem Identify ways this problem is Tailor these solutions to your being addressed elsewhere (if Combo Disaster community at all)

Insufficient Government A Carbon Tax Government putting money Funds for disasters into Riverside county

Big Businesses only paying Civil Lawsuit against the Lawsuits pertaining to those small fees for terrible Southern California Air who facilitate and propagate pollution Quality Board pollution

Businesses struggling to get Loans for environmental The CPCFA could work more keep environmental compliance closely in Riverside compliance and turn a profit

Dirty Freeways and the effect The EPA has been working on The same could be done for on the surrounding cleaning up the 710 Freeway similar freeways across communities Southern California, especially in places like Riverside

Stakeholder Sketch

“catalysts” stakeholders “corrosions”

Wealthy residents that have a Residents of Riverside Disadvantaged communities power in local city council that in riverside that don't access want to speak up for fire resources in city councils to prevention in THEIR area only help fight fire and find fire preventable measures for their local communities.

Have lots of money, feed Industrial sites of greater Los Observable fumes emitted money to lobbyist that can Angeles from their factories cause help deregulate the EPA’s concern and dismay towards standards on them. that industry.

Can build running support Center for Community Have to outmatch with local communities, good Action and Environmental pro-industry lobbyist against grassroot movements. Justice their cause and the strength of evidence that they have against climate change

Are considered superheroes Riverside Fire Department They can be underfunded, to wildfires, can gain large under-staffed, over exhausted support through the general from previous fires, lack public since they’re the ones in proper housing, food, and charge of putting out fires. necessities when fighting fires, causing firefighter casualties.

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Riverside-County-Receives-F-for-Air-Quality-50902 2601.html