Adrian Martinez

Deputy Managing Attorney California Office

staff-attorney-martinez_dave-getzschman-900

Media Inquiries

Zoe Woodcraft
Public Affairs and Communications Officer
(818) 606-7509
zwoodcraft@earthjustice.org

On Social Media

@LASmogGuy

Bar Admissions

CA

Based in Los Angeles, Adrian works on clean air, clean energy, and healthy communities issues as a deputy managing attorney for Earthjustice in our Right to Zero campaign. He also serves as the Chair of Earthjustice’s Transportation Practice Group. He litigates cases in state and federal court, in addition to handling matters and advocacy before the California Public Utilities Commission, California Air Resources Board, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Adrian currently serves on San Pedro Bay Ports Sustainable Supply Chain Advisory Committee and the California Public Utilities Commission and California Energy Commission Disadvantaged Communities Advisory Committee.

Adrian has been a leader in advancing zero-emissions transportation and clean air policies for nearly two decades. He has successfully advocated for local, regional, and state agencies to pursue zero-emissions technologies. He worked with community groups and other environmental groups to secure more than a billion dollars in authorized investments in zero-emissions transportation infrastructure in California through the Public Utilities Commission. He also has been very active in advancing zero-emission buses, trucks, and cargo equipment in Southern California.

Prior to joining Earthjustice, Adrian worked as a smog and healthy communities attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council for more than nine years. Adrian received a degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Duke University and a law degree from the University of Denver College of Law, where he was a Chancellor’s Scholar. He is admitted to practice in California.

In addition to his professional work, Adrian volunteers for many nonprofits. He sits on the board of Communities for a Better Environment. He also sits on the Board of the Climate Change Law Foundation. Adrian serves on the advisory board for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA Law School. Adrian also serves as an adjunct professor of law at the University of California Los Angeles, where he co-teaches a class on Environmental Justice Law.

The Latest by Adrian Martinez

Gavin Newsom speaking in a burned and smokey area.
September 6, 2023

When Will Governor Newsom Fix Schwarzenegger’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard?

California is sinking the vast majority of its $4 billion clean transportation program into combustion fuels every year. Make it make sense.
sparks fly as a person welds inside of a large pipe
August 16, 2023

California Rolls Up Its Sleeves on Industrial Pollution

How do we know if a sector is difficult to decarbonize if we haven’t tried?
A man looking at several shelves of bread at a grocery store
July 31, 2023

I’ll Take the Muffin, But Hold the Methane

Southern California’s air regulator adopts first in the nation rule to electrify the way companies cook, bake and brew our food and beverages.
July 18, 2023

It’s Electrifying! Helping Ports Bring Us Goods, Not Smog

A firehose of funding from California regulators will help the Port of Long Beach step into an electric future.
A Mack LR Electric garbage truck operated by the New York City Department of Sanitation.
February 13, 2023

Let’s Not Waste California’s Opportunity to Be the Nation’s Leader in Electric Refuse Trucks

Electric garbage trucks will play a key role in California’s clean air and climate future.
The United States Postal Service Next Generation Delivery Vehicle, shown in this concept image, can be built with either a gasoline or electric drivetrain.
December 20, 2022

You’ve Got Mail — and Clean Air

Following public pressure, USPS and the Biden administration are taking a big step to deliver clean air benefits in every neighborhood in the country.

Kids play soccer near the Phillips 66 refinery in Wilmington, Calif.
September 8, 2022

How Environmental Justice Advocates Dismantled the Oil Industry’s Prized Pollution “Reduction” Program In Los Angeles

A disaster of an experiment with pollution trading is coming to an end.

El vehículo de próxima generación del Servicio Postal de los Estados Unidos, que se muestra en este prototipo, se puede construir con un tren motriz de gasolina o eléctrico
February 1, 2022

El Aire Limpio Debe Llegar con el Correo a Su Casa

Los camiones del servicio postal pueden convertirse en el medio de transporte eléctrico favorito de los Estados Unidos, siempre y cuando la administración Biden actúe con audacia.
A man charges an electric car at home before a family trip in Washington state.
August 26, 2020

While Wildfires Blaze, California Is Making Two Important Decisions to Get Us off Fossil Fuels

It’s time for environmental policies that fit the scale of the problem.
Proterra is one of several companies manufacturing electric buses in California.
December 13, 2018

Buses Are the Electric Vehicle Everyone Should Be Talking About. Here’s Why.

California could spark a national trend with a visionary new electric bus rule that will transform public transit.
The first zero-emissions electric bus built in Lancaster, Antelope Valley, California, on July 13, 2017, near a BYD factory where thousands of workers build such buses.
September 28, 2018

Air Resources Board Hearing Brings California One Step Closer to Zero-Emissions Bus Fleets

The California Air Resources Board just held a public hearing in Sacramento to consider its proposed Innovative Clean Transit regulation.
Workers assemble an electric bus at BYD's California facility.
September 3, 2018

Electric Bus Vision in the Deep Trump Abyss

California could soon make polluting combustion-engine buses a thing of the past.
A car is built on the assembly line
May 31, 2018

California Is Getting off Gas and Diesel Sooner Than You Think

California just voted to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into charging equipment for electric cars, trucks, and buses in the largest single investment in charging infrastructure in the United States.
Uno de los cientos de trabajadores de tiempo completo empleados por la empresa de autobuses eléctricos BYD en su fábrica de California.
March 1, 2018

Lo que la industria no quiere que sepas de energías renovables y empleos

La verdad es que no tenemos que intercambiar aire puro por una economía saludable.
This welder is one of hundreds of full-time workers employed by electric bus manufacturer BYD at the company's factory in California.
February 13, 2018

Here’s What Industry Won’t Tell You About Clean Energy and Jobs

In reality, we don’t have to make a trade-off between breathable air and the economy.
November 30, 2017

Looking for Climate Leadership in the Trump Era? Try Cities Like Los Angeles.

Angelenos are refusing to treat fossil fuel infrastructure as a necessary evil.
electric bus rally
April 20, 2017

LA Metro Can Drive the Resistance by Driving Electric

As the federal government relinquishes environmental leadership, cities are stepping up, including the nation’s smog capital, Los Angeles, which is considering a shift to electric buses.
While President Trump tries to roll back America’s efforts to fight climate change, California charts its own path by investing $1 billion to electrify the state’s ports, warehouses, buses and cars.
March 29, 2017

Move Aside Trump, California’s Future Is Electric

While President Trump tries to roll back America’s efforts to fight climate change, California charts its own path by investing $1 billion to electrify the state’s ports, warehouses, buses and cars.
Los Angeles Rep. Xavier Becerra
January 23, 2017

California Adds Legal Muscle to Defend Core Values and Rights

The Golden State is gearing up to protect its work for a healthy environment and fundamental rights for Californians from federal attacks.
Container ship docked at the Port of Oakland
November 17, 2016

Fighting for a Clean Energy Makeover at the Largest Ports in the Nation

Freight pollution is a major player in poor air quality and greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Here’s what we’re doing about it.
Severe weather striking Southern California highlights the need to reform our energy grid.
August 15, 2016

Reforming our Energy Grid in the Face of Severe Weather

Severe weather striking the Southwest highlights the need to reform our energy grid.
March 9, 2016

Earthjustice Inicia Acción Legal Contra Los Angeles Por El Smog

En lugar de aceptar una propuesta de limitar las cantidades de smog que protegerían la salud, los funcionarios electos del distrito de calidad del aire aprobaron un plan mucho más débil creado por la Asociación de Estados Petroleros de la Zona Oeste (Western States Petroleum Association).
Smog hovers over downtown Los Angeles and surrounding areas on March 3, 2016.
March 9, 2016

Earthjustice Takes Air Board to Court for Failing to Curb Los Angeles Smog

Our lawsuit challenges an oil industry-backed plan to blunt smog clean up in the LA region.
January 28, 2016

Derrame Masivo de Gas Demuestra el Alto Costo de los Combustibles Fósiles

Necesitamos seguir presionando a nuestros líderes y reguladores para que nos garanticen que los combustibles fósiles que están presentes por toda la nación no dañen la salud y el bienestar de los residentes.
On Jan. 15, state leaders from multiple agencies met with the communities impacted by the Aliso Canyon gas leak.
January 28, 2016

Massive Gas Leak Reveals High Cost of Fossil Fuels

Though the natural gas leak in Southern California could be plugged by the end of February, residents who are concerned about additional leaks are pushing for the facility to be shut down for good.
January 12, 2016

Fuga Masiva de Gas Pone en Riesgo la Salud de los Californianos y del Medio Ambiente

Casi 100,000 libras de gases de invernadero arrojados a la atmosfera cada hora por esta fuga de metano, es equivalente al “peso de un portaviones del US Navy cada mes.”
An overhead photo of SoCalGas's leaking Aliso Canyon well pad in 2015, which polluted the Porter Ranch community in Los Angeles County in California's largest climate disaster.
January 12, 2016

Massive Gas Leak Puts Californians’ Health and Environment in Jeopardy

A massive gas leak near the town of Porter Ranch is releasing as much methane in a month as a fleet of 200,000 cars would in a year.
Los Angeles smog and the coastal marine layer meet at sunset.
July 27, 2015

Is So Cal Gas Waging War on Southern California Edison?

The race for clean transportation solutions in Los Angeles is looking like the tortoise and the hare, with SoCal Gas taking an early lead on the public relations front.
A smoggy day in LA.
May 20, 2015

The Audacity to Breathe

Physicians and environmentalists sue to compel regulators to fix particulate pollution problems in the Los Angeles region.
April 24, 2015

One of California’s Dirtiest Industries Must Clean up Its Act

State agency estimates that California’s freight industrial complex is responsible for 2,000 premature deaths from fine particulate pollution each year.
LA Oil Field
March 5, 2015

La Habra Heights Fight Against Oil Continues

One election does not defeat the resolve of local community members concerned about big oil ruining their town.
February 26, 2015

Clean Energy and Clean Ports Are Just What the Doctor Ordered

Now is the time for our leaders in the Los Angeles region to take ownership of the zero emissions transition.
Los Angeles Smog Aerial
February 5, 2015

A Disgusting Day to Breathe in L.A.

The Los Angeles region is currently experiencing dirty, filthy and downright disgusting air. It's time for stronger air regulations.
Oil refinery
January 28, 2015

Community Advocates Bid Farewell to Senseless Oil Proposal in California

Occidental Petroleum proposed a plan to drill more than 200 new wells and lost.
Gas Ignited into Flame
January 15, 2015

Southern California Plays With Fire And Gets Burned

Oil refining in Southern California heats up with explosive results, yet the fossil fuel industry shows no sign of slowing down.
Oil wells near La Habra, 1920s
January 8, 2015

Small Town Seeks Fair Fight in Battling Oil Industry’s Expansion

Recently, residents of La Habra Heights, California, rang in the New Year with a victory that ensures the small town will have a fair chance at banning new oil and gas drilling come election time.
A mother watches over her child during treatment for asthma.
October 31, 2014

"We’re fighting for 18 million people living in the greater Los Angeles region forced to breathe this dirty air."

Smog plans are the blueprints that help communities achieve clean air, but in Los Angeles plans are faulty and communities suffer because of it.
Smog over Los Angeles.
October 15, 2014

The Port of Los Angeles Has Lost Its Environmental Mojo

We’re on the eve of what could be a disastrous vote by the Port of Los Angeles to expand one of its terminals.
A mother watches over her child during treatment for asthma. It remains to be unsafe to breathe in many parts of the South Coast Air Basin.
October 3, 2014

MATES Study Confirms Air Progress in LA Areas, But Safe Air Hasn’t Been Achieved for All

Breathing toxic air has consequences far worse than we originally thought. The recently released 2014 Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study indicates progress on air pollution, but also highlights that the fight for clean air isn't over yet.
A zero emissions truck at the Port of Long Beach, California.
July 25, 2014

Port of LA Misses Zero Emissions Boat

The Port of Long Beach, California, has shown that the freight industry can reduce its toxic air emissions. It's time for other ports to do the same.
Trains carrying coal.
June 10, 2014

Long Beach Locks In Dirty Coal Exports

Long Beach approves exports of climate-altering coal, petcoke.
A child suffering from asthma.
March 20, 2014

California Cities In Fracas Over Huge Gas-Fired Power Plant

Citizens of Lancaster, CA, fear air pollutants from the plant will harm children's health.
February 7, 2014

A Critical Vote on Southern California Air Quality

At issue, investing in long range fossil fuel infrastructure.
September 17, 2013

California Regulators Can't Overlook This Pollution Study

A paper published last night in the Journal of Transportation Research Part D: Transport and the Environment identifies how many people are impacted by highway pollution in the United States. The paper finds that 19.3 percent of the U.S. population lives within 500 meters of a high volume road. The findings are important for public…
August 28, 2013

Planning to Prevail Against Transportation Pollution

California's strong efforts to combat harmful climate pollution make these two large urban centers the perfect places to advance a modern vision for transportation.