Diversifying the Movement

Environmental health issues disproportionately affect communities of color, yet these very communities are underrepresented in green advocacy groups. On this episode, we chat with Virginia Palacios, a 10th generation Tejana, grasstops activist and environmental scientist turned eco-entrepreneur about her work on environmental justice issues in Texas, how she helped expand Environmental Defense Fund’s diversity initiatives and her hopes to continue working on the intersection of energy, government and advocacy in her hometown community of Laredo, TX and beyond. 
Notes:

Check out Virginia’s blog posts from her time at EDF for more background on her environmental justice work: http://blogs.edf.org/texascleanairmatters/author/vpalacios/
Green and Healthy Homes Initiative: the organization discussed that completes energy efficiency retrofits in coordination with public health funders for indoor air quality
For more stats and reports addressing diversity in green groups, follow Green 2.0’s work: https://www.diversegreen.org/the-challenge/
Confronting Racism article discussed by Lesley: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/28/confronting-racism-is-not-about-the-needs-and-feelings-of-white-people
Mayor Ron Nirenberg won re-election, read the San Antonio Climate Action and Adaptation draft plan here: https://saclimateready.org/about-us/draft-climate-action-adaptation-plan/