Action Alerts

Tell your California legislators it’s time to clean up our air

What's At Stake

In the face of attacks by the federal government, Californians have been left vulnerable to dangerous air pollution. Now more than ever, California leaders must serve as a bulwark against the Trump administration’s reckless attacks on the state’s ability to meaningfully reduce pollution and improve the lives of Californians.  Urge your California legislators to regulate pollution magnets around the state.  

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 Pollution magnets are places that attract a lot of large vehicle activity and the tailpipe pollution that comes with them. Think warehouses, ports, and railyards. California has some of the dirtiest air in the country, and the diesel vehicles that move through these pollution magnets are major culprits. Luckily, there’s a bill moving through the California Legislature that can tackle this issue. The California Clean Skies Act will help the state build a goods movement system that doesn’t pollute the air.  

This commonsense bill works by providing companies with a flexible menu of clean solutions they can invest in over time. The solutions can range from acquiring zero-emission trucks to building charging infrastructure, installing solar panels, placing air filtration systems in local schools and hospitals, and so on.  

Local air districts from across California have already adopted similar policies to clean up our dirty air, and the model is working for huge swaths of California. Passing this legislation would give California’s air regulators the ability to implement similar policies across the state. This is how California moves forward with the rest of the world in building a modern system for moving goods that gives us clean air, too. 

This commonsense bill is facing industry opposition, and that’s why we need you with us. Tell your legislators that you support the Clean Skies Act and urge them to pass this bill.  

An aerial view of shipping containers attached to trucks
Shipping containers stand attached to trucks at the Port of Los Angeles, the nation's busiest container port, on September 18, 2018 in San Pedro, California. (Mario Tama / Getty Images)

Delivery to California State Legislature

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Your Actions Matter

Your messages make a difference, even if we have leaders who don't want to listen. Here's why.

You level the playing field.

Elected officials pay attention when they see that we are paying attention. Read more.

They may be hearing from industry lobbyists left and right, but hearing the stories of their constituents — that’s your power.

Our legislators serve at the pleasure of the people who gave them their job — you.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. When you contact your elected official, you’re putting a face and a name on an issue.

Whether or not you voted for them, they work for you, for the duration of their term.

Make sure your elected officials know whose community and whose values they represent. (Find your local, state, and federal elected officials.)

Your action is with us in court.

If a federal agency finalizes a harmful action, the record of public comments provides a basis for bringing them into court. Read more.

Throughout each of the public comment periods we alert you to, Earthjustice’s attorneys are researching and writing in-depth, technical comments to submit — detailing how the regulation could and should be stronger to protect the environment, our communities, and our planet.

We need you to join us — your specific experiences, knowledge, and voice are crucial to add to the Administrative Record through the comment periods.

Lawsuits we file that challenge weak or harmful federal regulations rely on what was submitted during the comment period. The court can only look at documents that are in the Administrative Record — including the public comments — to decide if the agency did something improper.

Your actions aid our litigation. Taking action and submitting comments during a comment period is substantively important.

It’s the law.

Federal agencies must pause what they’re doing and ask for — and consider — your comment. Read more.

Many of us may have never heard of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), but laws like these require our government to ask the public to weigh in before agencies adopt or change regulations.

Regulations essentially describe how federal agencies will carry out laws — including decisions that could undermine science, or weaken safeguards on public health.

Public comments are collected at various points throughout the federal government’s rulemaking process, including when a regulation is proposed and finalized. (Learn about the rulemaking process.) These comments become part of the official, legal public record — the “Administrative Record.”

When the public responds with a huge outpouring of support for environmental protections, these individual messages collectively undercut politicians' attempts to claim otherwise.

What this means is each of us can take a role in shaping the rules our government creates — and ensuring those rules are fair and effective.