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 from Adrian Martinez

November 8, 2024

In the News: Associated Press

California air regulators approve changes to climate program that could raise gas prices

“CARB’s justification for this version of the LCFS as a bridge for combustion fuels while we transition to zero-emissions needs to be reconsidered in light of the profoundly altered landscape we suddenly landed in this week.”
November 6, 2024

In the News: San Francisco Chronicle

While you’re waiting for election results, California could take a vote to raise your gas prices

While state regulators pitch the fuel standard as “a balanced diet,” they’re actually “giving us one piece of fruit and four pieces of candy.”
October 28, 2024

In the News: Associated Press

In nationwide first, California plans to rev up sales of electric motorcycles

“California has such dramatic air pollution problems that we’ve realized that we aren’t in a position to pick and choose. We basically need to get to zero emissions everywhere feasible.”
Warehouses bump up against homes in the Inland Empire.
June 24, 2024

California Reins in Its Smoggy Warehouse Problem

A new approach to mega warehouse pollution is showing early success in the fight against diesel pollution. Everyone should be talking about Indirect Source Rules.
June 7, 2024

In the News: Los Angeles Times

Own a pool in Southern California? New air-quality rule requires electric water heaters

“When it comes to our industrial sector, we don’t have to boil the planet to boil water.”
June 5, 2024

In the News: Los Angeles Times

‘Who’s going to live here?’ What happens when an e-commerce warehouse takes out your neighborhood

“There are people who don’t want these warehouses in their communities, and they just want to be left with peace.”
Wide shot of the downtown Los Angeles skyline bathed in smog. View from Griffith Park.
May 7, 2024

Southern California Can Boil Water Without Boiling the Planet

Efficient, modern, and clean. Heat pumps are heading for the industrial and commercial sectors in the nation’s manufacturing hub.
A person uses a rod in a machine filled with yellow melted steel with sparks flying around.
April 11, 2024

From Ice Cream to Glass to Steel, California Needs to Think Big on Industrial Electrification

It’s time for the largest manufacturing hub in the country to develop a blueprint for zero emissions. Legislation like AB 2083 can get us there.
March 12, 2024

In the News: Canary Media

California’s biofuel bias is hampering its EV future. Can that change?

“We’ve got to eliminate our reliance on combustion. The program as designed will continue to provide lucrative incentives for combustible fuels well into the future. The stakes are very, very high.”

Article by Jeff St. John

Gavin Newsom speaks in a burned and smokey area.
March 12, 2024

California Plans to Waste $27 Billion Bankrolling a Polluters’ Paradise

With the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, California would be locked in to waste $27 billion in climate dollars on dirty fuels over the next decade. It’s up to Governor Newsom to fix it.
February 4, 2024

In the News: Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles smog woes worsen as U.S. EPA threatens to reject local pollution plan

“The plan to meet our clean air standards relied on these faith-based assumptions that we’ll figure out how to reduce the pollution at a later time. And what ended up happening is we never figured it out.”
December 7, 2023

In the News: Los Angeles Times

Boiling Level: Which cities are taking cost as California shifts to electrical buses?

“In California, our leading transit agency isn’t a bastion of liberal politics; it’s a relatively conservative community in the high desert. So I think what it shows is electric buses are quiet, they’re clean, they save money. Those are values that don’t have a political party.”

Article by Tony Briscoe

Michael S. Regan
December 7, 2023

EPA: Sign the Paperwork That Will Save Nearly 9,000 Lives

With the Stroke of a Pen, EPA Can Grant the Waivers for Critical California Regulations Shifting Us to Zero Emissions Everything
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?
August 16, 2023

In the News: Politico

Environmental groups sue SoCal air regulator over ozone pollution

“There’s no reason an oil refinery should get a free pass. There needs to be consequences for failing to make the air clean.”
August 8, 2023

In the News: Canary Media

New California rule will cut carbon from baking Cheetos, chips and more

“This is the start of what’s going to be an effort to get the entire food and beverage manufacturing industry to zero emissions.”
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.
A shipping yard at the Port of Long Beach, California. The port is the second busiest in the nation.
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.
June 19, 2023

In the News: Associated Press

Railroad industry sues to block new locomotive pollution rules in California

“There’s generally been a reckless disregard from the rail industry for saving lives from air pollution, and this is just another feather in their cap in their pursuit of continuing to burn really dirty diesel fuel.”
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.
December 13, 2021

In the News: Los Angeles Times

That brown, hazy air is bad for your kids

“For the past three years, we’ve seen relatively clean air data, aside from wildfires. What’s uncomfortable about this season’s pollution is that we can’t point to any one source.”
November 11, 2021

In the News: Los Angeles Times

Hazy skies, poor air quality: Is port congestion worsening L.A. pollution?

“Whenever we see this spike in fine particulate pollution, people point to the weather. What some of that explanation misses is that impact of some of the urban areas where people live, and glosses over the specific solutions that could be pursued to curb emissions.”
November 10, 2021

In the News: Los Angeles Times

As L.A. fights port gridlock, U.S. and global leaders pledge to curb shipping emissions

"This just makes what was an already bad situation worse from an air pollution perspective."
August 16, 2021

In the News: Grist

Hot days mean worse air. So why are climate and smog seen as separate?

“[The South Coast Air Quality Management District's] failure to look at the impacts of climate change in all of their planning has meant that they’re not really hitting the mark. The consequences are that people are breathing dirty air, and the law allows it.”
June 14, 2021

In the News: Bloomberg

The Quest to Green an Empire of Mega-Warehouses

“Both the settlement and the ISR are designed to get money into the community.”<
May 8, 2021

In the News: The New York Times

E-Commerce Mega-Warehouses, a Smog Source, Face New Pollution Rule

“This isn’t just something that’s happening in California — these warehouses are proliferating across the country. This could be a way for other states to also crack down on warehouse emissions.”
May 7, 2021

In the News: KTLA

AQMD weighs new warehouse rule to curb diesel emissions, improve air quality

“The health benefits will be immense. The way we move goods in this country has got to be electric, for the sake of clean air and a breathable future.”
April 15, 2021

In the News: The Guardian

Amazon’s warehouse boom linked to health hazards in America’s most polluted region

“We have an immensely profitable industry that’s become even more profitable during the pandemic, and now environmental and community groups and regulators are saying it’s time to clean up your pollution and stop making us suffer from it.”
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.