Nevada State Climate Initiative statement: Mi Familia Vota

My name is Ariel Guevara and I’m the Nevada Civic Engagement Coordinator for Mi Familia Vota, a member of the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition. I was raised in the same city that housed Chevron’s largest oil refinery in America: Richmond, California. I also struggled for most of my life with the effects of asthma. I began to do my research and discovered that I lived in one of the most polluted cities in the United States, and greenhouse gas emissions originating from the refinery was likely a contributing factor to my asthma. The majority of residents were also people of color and embattled by higher poverty rates and violent crime. Asthma rates among Richmond residents were abnormally higher than the national average. It’s circumstances like these that fuel Mi Familia’s fight for climate justice and why we proudly stand by our NEJC coalition partners in demanding the Nevada Climate Initiative work for the betterment of all our communities. Addressing issues such as these is climate justice.