The People Demand Environmental Justice and an end to Environmental Racism!”

World Environment Day
Rally for Environmental Justice Coalition

Contact: Marie Harrison or Bradley Angel, Greenaction for Health & Environmental Justice (415) 248-5010
Antonio Díaz, PODER (415) 431-4210 On-site cell phone (415) 722-5270

As U.N. Officials and Mayors from Around the World Meet for World Environment Day:
Over 60 Urban, Rural, Desert and Indigenous Communities and Grassroots Groups
hold historic Rally for Environmental Justice

Rally Outside City Hall Tells Government Officials:
“From Bayview Hunters Point to Communities Around the World,
The People Demand Environmental Justice and an end to Environmental Racism!”

San Francisco, CA – An historic and diverse coalition of over 60 environmental justice and social justice organizations held a Rally for Environmental Justice outside San Francisco City Hall Saturday, June 4, 2005 on the occasion of United Nations World Environment Day. The rally took place directly across from San Francisco City Hall in Civic Center Plaza, at the same time that United Nations officials and Mayors from around the world were meeting inside City Hall.

The rally is sending a message that the United Nations World Environment Day’s goals of green cities and a healthy planet cannot be achieved without environmental justice for all and an end to the environmental racism that results in communities of color and other low-income communities here in San Francisco and around the world being harmed by industrial pollution and government complicity.

The rally brought together an incredible diversity of grassroots organizations from urban, rural, desert and Indigenous communities united in their message demanding environmental justice. Local, regional and national community environmental justice leaders spoke, and traditional Mohave Bird Singers and dancers from the Colorado River Indian Tribes and an Okinawan cultural group performed.

A main focus on the rally is the ongoing environmental racism and injustice in San Francisco’s own Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood, where residents continue to be exposed to the pollution from the outdated and unnecessary PG&E Hunters Point power plant and other dirty industries. Mothers and youth from Bayview Hunters Point will lead off the rally by calling for the immediate shut down of the PG&E power plant.

“Bayview Hunters Point residents call on our Mayor and Governor to shut down the PG&E Hunters Point power plant now,” said Tessie Ester, a mother who lives directly next to the power plant and represents the Huntersview Tenants Association. “Too many kids have asthma and we demand clean air now!”

“All the mayors need to be aware of the different environmental issues that affect our communities’ health. We demand that they hear us, especially Mayor Gavin Newsom, and think of people not profits when they make the decisions that affect our barrios.” Jendry Ramos, PODER youth organizer. PODER is a San Francisco grassroots environmental and economic justice organization that believes that solutions come from building community leadership.

“It is unacceptable that government officials celebrate World Environment Day and sip champagne while children in Bayview Hunters Point are being exposed to pollution from the PG&E power plant,” said Marie Harrison, Greenaction community organizer and a Bayview Hunters Point community leader. “How can they celebrate San Francisco as a green city when environmental racism is alive and well here? Our communities demand a healthy environment and justice for all.

Sponsoring organizations:
African Initiative of American Friends Service Committee, All Hallows Gardens Residents Association, Amazon Watch, ANSWER-SF, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, California Communities Against Toxics, Californians for Pesticide Reform, California Prison Moratorium Project – Central Valley Chapter, Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, Central California Environmental Justice Network, Chester Street Block Club Association, Children for a Safe Environment, Chinese Progressive Association, Circle of Life, Clean Water Action, Coalition for Transit Justice, Code Pink, Communities for a Better Environment, Community First Coalition, Data Center, Desert Citizens Against Pollution, El Pueblo Para el Aire y Agua Limpio/Kettleman City, Environmental Justice Air Quality Coalition, Environmental Justice Climate Change Initiative, Evict PG&E Coalition, Genyukai & Ryuku Damashii, Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, Global Community Monitor, Global Exchange, Grayson Neighborhood Council, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, Gwich’in Steering Committee, Huntersview Tenants Association, Indigenous Environmental Network, International Indian Treaty Council, Literacy for Environmental Justice, Midway Residents for Environmental Justice, Mohave Cultural Preservation Program, National Refinery Reform Network, Ongo Gaudadeh Devia (Skull Valley Goshutes, Utah), PODER, Poor Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork, POWER, Rainforest Action Network, SF Bay View Newspaper, SF Community Power Cooperative, SF Gray Panthers, SF Green Party, SF Peoples Organization, Senior Action Network, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, Sweat-free Coalition/FairTrade and Organic Support Group, Tri-Valley CAREs, Urban Habitat, West County Toxics Coalition, Women’s Energy Matters, Youth United for Community Action



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