Perea Testifies For The Environment
05/30/2007

Fresno , CA (May 30, 2007) On Wednesday, May 30th, Council President Henry T. Perea testified in Sacramento before the US Environmental Protection Agency for tougher emission standards in cars. A landmark case has been decided by the US Supreme Court that recognizes carbon dioxide as a pollutant thereby giving the EPA the right to regulate it. This ruling makes way for California to implement such bills as Assembly Bill 1493, also known as the “Clean Cars” law. This groundbreaking legislation was passed in 2002 in anticipation of this Supreme Court ruling and is a part of California’s efforts to take a leadership role in reducing global warming. However, none of the environmental legislation passed by California can take effect until a federal waiver is granted. As a representative of a part of California that has been highly impacted by pollutants, Henry T. Perea was asked to give his expert testimony as to the importance of this effort and the necessity of the waiver being granted.

Perea’s testimony helped highlight environmental issues in the San Joaquin Valley which is currently home to five of the American Lung Associations top 25 worst polluted counties across the nation. As a resident of the San Joaquin Valley and a member of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District Board he has testified to the impact of polluting emissions on air quality, global warming and to the impact that air quality has on the environment overall. His testimony is part of California’s effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 22% by 2012 which far exceeds federal EPA standards and is supported as a groundbreaking effort by 11 other states, 3 cities, and numerous environmental and non-profit groups. 70,000 people die each year from air pollution related illnesses, nearly twice as many as in traffic accidents. Council President Perea fully supports the leadership role California has taken to protect our environment and change this frightening statistic.

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