Grassroots activist Andrea Vidaurre won the Goldman prize for environmental activists as a result of her policies to improve California's trucking and railway practices, according to an article in The Guardian.
In 2020, Vidaurre co-founded the People's Collective for Environmental Justice, a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating pollution and protecting the public health of Inland Empire's community. After years of policy work and grassroots movements with community-based organizers, Vidaurre convinced regulators and state lawmakers to come to Inland Empire for toxic tours.
Thanks to Vidaurre's campaign, state regulators adopted two groundbreaking transport regulations: the In-Use Locomotive Rule and California Advanced Clean Fleets Rule. The new regulations will not only improve local air quality for millions of people but will also reduce the United States' dependence on dirty energy.
Vidaurre grew up in Inland Empire, an area in Southern California that has become a massive trucking hub and inland port. The metropolitan region connects Long Beach and San Pedro, some of the busiest shipping container ports in the country.
After witnessing the region's natural landscape being transformed into an industrial zone, Vidaurre was motivated to advocate for her hometown and the health of its people.
"No amount of diesel air pollution is OK to breathe," Vidaurre told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Yet we're exposed to it every day, around the clock."
Because of the high industrial traffic, Inland Empire is one of the smoggiest regions in the U.S. With over half a million diesel trucks passing through the area as well as freight trains and planes, the air quality in the area ranks among the lowest in the country.
Increased cases of cancer and asthma as well as premature death rates have led health experts to label Inland Empire the "diesel death zone."
"They blame it on consumerism, because we're shopping online, but that's not the full story. This is very profit-driven, and it's targeted in communities of color," Vidaurre told The Guardian.
The area is now also home to thousands of warehouses that are always teeming and have exacerbated the region's poor air quality.
Vidaurre's family has worked at these warehouses and freight airports over the years and supported her cause for stricter environmental restrictions. While large industrial companies claim stronger guidelines impede economic growth, Vidaurre and her family know firsthand that they protect workers.
"Historically, environmental policies have not always included workers and they have been screwed. It doesn't have to be like that," Vidaurre told The Guardian. "We live and work in these communities, and environmental justice is about looking out for both."
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