“This Earth Day we must rededicate ourselves to the protection of our environment and public health, so our communities are stronger, better, safer places for future generations.

 “This past year the Bush Administration has continued its assault against our environment and public health. Bush has proposed to deny communities access to information about toxics in their air, water and land, has recommended selling 800,000 acres of National Forest and Bureau of Land Management and has severely cut state programs for parks. President Bush’s Fiscal Year 2007 budget dangerously under-funds safe and clean drinking water infrastructure, and, despite that 33 percent of military families reside on installations, the Department of Defense has once again requested to be exempt from public health and environment regulations.

“These rollbacks have very real impacts on our communities. Poor air quality contributes to 9,000 premature deaths annually in California and more than four million Californians live with lung diseases, like asthma, that are related to poor air quality. More Angelinos are hospitalized because of asthma than residents of nearly any other county in California. Ports and locomotives are the number one source of fixed air pollution in our region, yet these sources are largely unregulated.

“Underserved and minority communities are disproportionately impacted by poor environmental quality, 5.5 million Latinos live within 10 miles of a coal power plant and 68 percent of African Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant — the distance within which the maximum effects of the smokestack plume are expected to occur. Rates of obesity are highest among African Americans, Latinos and underserved communities, and despite studies which prove that communities with neighborhood parks and green spaces are healthier, the San Gabriel Valley has less than one-half an acre per 1,000 people – eight times less than the amount needed to positively impact health.

 “President Bush has also ignored the skyrocketing cost of gasoline. The price of oil closed at an all time high above $75 per barrel. These costs are hurting working families, small business and our economy. Yet, energy company executives are making record salaries and the Bush Administration continues to support tax breaks and royalty free drilling rights for oil companies.

“I believe that we can and must reverse these trends to protect our environment, our health and our economy. I am proud that, because of legislation I authored, our cities are able to work closely with the National Park Service to identify ways to bring more green space to our neighborhoods. I have introduced legislation endorsed by the American Public Health Association to improve environmental health in our communities and an amendment I authored to protect pregnant women, infants, and children from pesticide testing was signed into law.

“As Ranking Democrat of the Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, I have fought to protect our water supplies from budget cuts and perchlorate. I joined House and Senate colleagues in calling for an emergency energy summit and have strongly supported legislation to protect consumers from price gouging. As the price of oil and gas continues to skyrocket, I will work to ensure more reliability in the energy market by securing affordable, diverse sources of energy. I am committed to continuing to fight for measures to reduce emissions from highways, trains, ports, gravel operations, refineries, and other harmful sources.

“I believe our families deserve clean air to breath, secure supplies of drinking water, safe living and work environments, and affordable energy sources, regardless of color, race, national origin or income. This Earth Day let us all fight to protect our environment, our health, and our communities for future generations.”