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Richmond Refinery Accident: Fire 2012 -02

The Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) is an environmental justice organization located on the west coast of California, specifically in Richmond, Oakland, and Wilmington California. APEN is an active member of the California Environmental Justice Alliance and has been involved with campaigns that advocate for just urban environments. APEN has expanded the framework of an environmental organization by incorporating biological, industrial, civil and social justice aspects into an effort that works to develop eco-friendly landscapes for the communities that they represent. They are involved with environmental issues surrounding the opposition of toxic waste infrastructure and they also lead campaigns for Asian Pacific Americans (AAPI) communities lacking adequate housing and climate solutions in sacrifice zones which consists of locations that sit on or are near hazardous waste sites.[1]

Origins

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The solidification of this group came from AAPI representatives[2][3] in 1993, after the First National People of Color Environmental Justice Leadership Summit in 1991.[4][5] Most of the attendees were activists representing various ethnic groups dealing with struggles from American chemical waste.[6] Delegates such as Peggy Saika, Pam Tau Lee, and Miya Yoshitani [2][5][7] returned from the 1991 summit having noticed little representation from AAPI voices.[3][8] Pam Tau Lee and Peggy Saika were the drivers in the organizing and sourcing of AAPI leaders who shared a vision to bring more environmental consciousness to the AAPI community.[6] Pam Tau Lee, Peggy Saika, and Miya Yoshitani led recruitments to envision APEN [7] which then led to its formation in 1993 and sister organizations that work within AAPI communities. APEN has also expanded its network by establishing the Laotian Organizing Project (LOP) as a generational inter-ethnic community lead organization [9][5][6] as well as "Power in Asians Organizing" which organizes low-income residence in Oakland. APEN has also established the Asian Youth Advocates (AYA),[5] a youth program that fosters leadership from AAPI communities in California. Expanding beyond the AYA, APEN also created an Intergenerational Leadership program to support and encourage more young women to get involved with these issues.[10]

Map showing the counties that APEN works in

Work

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APEN has been engaged in legal oppositions to oil and industrial corporations and have been advocating for Just Cause eviction protections[11][2][12] and advocating for environmental initiatives[13] since 1993. APEN has been a part of campaigns to give more control to tenants by working to pass the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act [4]. In 2002, APEN established an effort called "Power in Asians Organizing" which mobilized to win affordable housing units and stop mass evictions in Oakland.[11][6][14][15] Additionally, APEN’s goal of ensuring environmental justice extended into a No Coal In Richmond coalition, where in 2020, members of the Richmond community from all different backgrounds and careers came together to fight back against these health and safety hazards for community members. This initiative was historic as it ended up prohibiting the storage and exportation of coal and petroleum in Richmond, California.[16] In 2021, APEN lead the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force in Richmond which re-allocated $10 million towards housing and food access to Richmond and Oakland residents.[4][17] APEN has also expanded linguistic equity by integrating a multilingual warning system which implemented health advisory notifications from refinery accidents to Contra Costa County.[8][15] APEN works in Richmond which has over 350 chemical companies, and hazardous waste sites including the 2 contaminated federal superfund locations [5][15][18][19] and they also address asthma and air pollution levels.[20][21][22] APEN and its sister organizations have stopped some of Chevron's expansion initiatives and have worked to reallocate Chevron payouts through community benefits agreements and settlements from accidents.[12][6] APEN works with cities across California to invest in AAPI infrastructure to build community resiliency to climate change.[23] A major part of this advocation surrounds tenant control and protection measures in both health and economic aspects.[24] To aid in mitigating environmental impacts on communities, APEN is installing sustainable energy sources within low-income communities to ensure that individuals do not have to relocate due to an inability to afford basic needs. Additionally, this self-sustaining form of energy will enable communities to stay together and continue to advocate for change in minority and low-income communities.[25] Through the Inflation Reduction Act, APEN is 1 of the 11 EPA-appointed grant-makers that can distribute federal funds to locally-led environmental projects that address climate action [26]

References

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  1. ^ hksspr (2020-10-05). "Leading from the Margins: Immigrant and Refugee Leadership for a Green New Deal". HKS Student Policy Review. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  2. ^ a b c Early, Steve (2024-06-21). "Building a Labor-Climate Justice Movement". CounterPunch.org. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  3. ^ a b Locatelli, Luís (2022). "Building Parties' Grassroots: Electoral Systems, Party Organizations, and Social Linkages from a Cross-National Perspective". Brazilian Political Science Review. 16 (2). doi:10.1590/1981-3821202200020005. ISSN 1981-3821.
  4. ^ a b c Mahoney, Adam (2021-06-01). "From pollution to policing, this Asian-American group is expanding environmental justice in the Bay Area". Grist. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  5. ^ a b c d e Shah, Bindi V. (2011). Laotian Daughters: Working Toward Community, Belonging, and Environmental Justice. Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1439908150.
  6. ^ a b c d e Kim, Roger; Matsuoka, Martha (2013). "Building a 21st Century Environmental Movement That Wins: Twenty Years of Environmental Justice Organizing by the Asian Pacific Environmental Network" (PDF). AAPI Nexus: Policy, Practice and Community. 11 (1–2): 139–158. doi:10.17953/appc.11.1-2.r4508806v313n401. ISSN 1545-0317.
  7. ^ a b (Ng, Emily M., "PRESENT AND PASSIONATE: A Critical Analysis of Asian American Involvement in The United States Environmental Justice Movement" (2020).Pitzer Senior Theses. 106. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pitzer_theses/106)       
  8. ^ a b Chan, Sunny (2018). A BRIEF HISTORY OF ASIAN AMERICAN ACTIVISM AND WHY IT MATTERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE. University of Washington Press. pp. 170–195.
  9. ^ Sze, Julie; Ong, Paul M.; Lee, Charles (2013). "Asian American and Pacific Islander Environmentalism: Expansion, Connections and Social Change" (PDF). AAPI Nexus. 11 (1 & 2): 83–90.
  10. ^ "APEN - Direct Organizing - Asian Youth Advocates". archive.apen4ej.org. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  11. ^ a b APEN, TEAM (2019-10-08). "Our History". Asian Pacific Environmental Network. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  12. ^ a b "Building Grassroots Political Power (SSIR)". ssir.org. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  13. ^ Anonymous (2020-03-24). "How California is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions | CLEAR Center". clear.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  14. ^ "APEN - Direct Organizing - Power in Asians Organizing". archive.apen4ej.org. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  15. ^ a b c Sze, Julie (June 2004). "Asian American Activism for Environmental Justice". Peace Review. 16 (2): 149–156.
  16. ^ "Building Grassroots Political Power (SSIR)". ssir.org. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  17. ^ "Reimagining Public Safety". City of Oakland. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  18. ^ Steinbauer, James (2017-10-28). "MAP: An overview of every toxic, contaminated site in Richmond". Richmond Confidential. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
  19. ^ Guidance for performing preliminary assessments under CERCLA (Report). Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (United States). Hazardous Site Evaluation Div. 1991-09-01.
  20. ^ "Richmond, CA Air Quality - USA.com™". www.usa.com. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
  21. ^ Soto, Andrés (2014-03-21). "List of Air Emissions That Chevron's Richmond Refinery Project Could Increase If Mitigation Is Not Required According To The Revised Draft EIR" (PDF). Communities For a Better Environment. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
  22. ^ Selig, Kate (January 7, 2021). "How the Asian Pacific Environment Network built trust through decades of Organizing". Nichi Bei News.
  23. ^ Carrasco, Sandra; Dangol, Neeraj (2020-05-05), "Community Resilience Through Self-Help Housing Adaptations", Urbanisation at Risk in the Pacific and Asia, Routledge, pp. 152–170, ISBN 978-0-429-29017-6, retrieved 2024-10-18
  24. ^ "adaptationclearinghouse.org". www.adaptationclearinghouse.org. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  25. ^ "Asian Pacific Environmental Network". Climate Ride. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  26. ^ Calma, Justine (2023-12-20). "The Biden administration has a new strategy for getting federal funds to grassroots environmental groups". The Verge. Retrieved 2024-10-20.

Further reading

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  • Expanding environmental justice: Asian American feminists' contribution by Julie Sze, 2002 in The Socialist Feminist Project: A Contemporary Reader
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