It sure is hard times being a climate activist during an administration that is gutting environmental protections at every turn. We are working twice as hard to pass climate policies and three times harder to defend existing clean air, environmental, and public lands protections. However, we received good news for a change!
Late July, a federal court in Los Angeles upheld the South Coast Air Quality Management District's zero-emission boiler standards. This is huge because it rejects a challenge brought by the fossil fuel industry and industry groups that relied on the same legal arguments that led the Ninth Circuit to strike down the City of Berkeley's building electrification ordinance in 2024- that consequently impacted local building electrification ordinances across the state.
The court's order agrees with legal arguments made by the District and our coalition of intervenor groups such as Earthjustice, the People's Collective for Environmental Justice, and Industrious Labs to defend the standards in court. It emphasizes the need for the boiler standards to address longstanding and dire air quality issues. The District's zero-emission standards for industrial boilers and other large heating equipment will avoid as much pollution as half of all the region’s cars emit, with significant benefits for low-income communities that bear the cumulative impacts of Southern California’s endemic pollution.
The standards were enacted in 2024, after years of grassroots organizing by the Angeles Chapter, our members, and coalition partners. The decision upholding the standards is a huge win for the 17 million people living in California’s LA basin, where America’s most polluted air has led EPA to designate the region as being in “extreme” violation of health-based air quality standards..This is great news for the LA, OC regions and for all the areas that can follow the District’s lead in protecting their residents from industrial pollution.
Immense gratitude to the Sierra Club team who secured this win from chapter volunteer leaders and attorneys. This is also a testament to how your support, both through membership and donations, allows us to continue securing climate and environmental wins in our region.
By Kim Orbe, Acting Chapter Director