California Nurses for Environmental Health & Justice Achievements
Environmental Health Education
- Completed 5 statewide comprehensive CE workshop series on our 6 Key Issue areas of focus
- Produced a virtual six part Farmworker Series
- Produced a Food & Agriculture Webinar for the California School Nurses Association
- Invited to present climate change workshops for UC San Francisco Med Center nurses, the state chapters of the Oncology Nursing Society, California Nurse Leaders Organization, and the California Nurse Practitioner Association’s Government Affairs Committee
Advocacy & Legislative Efforts
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Fossil Fuels
- Met with elected officials and/or their staff: Weiner, Limon, Stern, and Skinner.
- Wrote sign on letters, attended Town Hall meetings, and collaborated on full-page ad in the Sacramento Bee (Add Link to ad)
- Participated and supported coalitions in dozens of legislative hearings
Regulatory
- Tracked CalGEM Public Health Advisory Board
- Active in the Last Chance Alliance’s Just Transition (JT) Committee meeting regularly with Sarah White and Kate Gordon (ORP), heads of Gavin Newsom’s Just Transition planning team
Tracking Just Transition Road Map policies- Hosted a presentation for the Labor Network for Sustainability and other the national nursing organizations participating in the Nurses Climate Change Collaborative
- Work closely with SEIU/Nurse Alliance
- Presenting on Just Transition issues to local labor councils including the Alameda Council and the Sonoma Council
- Working with the League of Woman Voters (LWV) on a Just Transition educational session for their members in CA
Bakersfield
Participated in the Bakersfield hearings to offer testimony regarding the EIR and fast-tracking drilling permits.
Bay Area Air Quality Management
Participated in press conferences regarding Rule 6.5, which would require more stringent air pollution controls (wet scrubbers) on oil refinery smokestacks. The resulting vote was in our favor for better protection for the greater Richmond and other impacted communities on the fence lines from refineries in the Bay Area.
California Air Resource Board
Attended CARB hearings, wrote letters and have continued to track the CARB Scoping plans
Water Board
Testified with Food and Water Watch regarding oil well water contamination
Pesticides
Nurses are advocating for communities’ “right to know” about toxic pesticide exposures in their neighborhoods. CNEHJ is working with California for Pesticide Reform (CPR), a coalition of environmental justice, community, environmentalist, and health organizations.