Groups across Texas continue to push back against the Trump administration’s revocation of the Endangerment Finding, a 2009 ruling that determined six greenhouse gases were a threat to public health and welfare. The EPA uses the finding to regulate gases under the Clean Air Act.
Hilda Berganza, climate program manager for the Hispanic Access Foundation, said the change will adversely impact Latino communities in Texas and nationwide because many are in frontline areas.
"One-point-eight million people – more than that – and Latinos live in the U.S. within a half-mile of an oil and gas facility," she said, "which then increases their odds of health problems, including respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, anxiety, depression and pre-term birth."
The foundation released an air-quality study last year that showed at least three Latino communities in Texas have unsafe levels of microscopic airborne pollutants, known as PM2.5. During a press conference, President Donald Trump said the finding was not based in fact.
Berganza said Latino children are 60% more likely to have asthma than non-Latino white children, forcing them to miss school at higher rates. She said moving forward, the foundation will continue to work with communities and policymakers to fight for clean air solutions. She also encourages the public to monitor air quality in their neighborhoods and present the facts to local elected officials.
"You can use the data to back it up," she said, "and say, 'Hey, look, my area of this part of the state is seeing, for example, high concentrations of PM2.5 because of transportation, or because of smoke in the area.'"
Some environmental groups say they plan to fight the repeal in court. The Supreme Court has affirmed that greenhouse gases are air pollutants subject to Clean Air Act regulation.