Editor’s note: “Raise your voice” is not what it claims to be

In our country, companies and business organizations take part in the political process, develop campaigns to influence public opinion, invest millions of dollars in them and seek to lobby politicians. This is how they promote any change or initiative that benefits the industry they represent.

This is being done openly and these organizations are trumpeting their truth.

But from time to time, like a political party, a business organization launches a campaign in which it does not tell the truth. Where he falsely claims to represent the opposite of what he actually represents. A campaign that confuses, that doesn’t explain. This is not in the interests of the people.

The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA)’s “Levanta tu Voz” Latin American campaign is one of the latest cases.

Because in its attempt to preserve the interests it represents—exploitation and use of oil and its derivatives, as its name suggests—by undermining the future of electric vehicle transportation in California, it unfairly intends to weaken Latin American leadership at the same time. on the issue of environmental justice.

They do this by repeating ostensibly populist slogans, such as that Californian Hispanic politicians only represent the rich. And they do it without criticism, giving examples of what they want.

They want to create concern for those communities that are still recovering from the pandemic and dependent on their cars and trucks to get to work and support their families.

They say, “Legislators and activists should include Hispanic voices in energy plans, especially when it affects communities and businesses,” ignoring that this is already happening. The most important environmental laws in the state are the work of Hispanic legislators. Law AB32, which in 2006 mandated the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, was authored by the then President of the Legislative Assembly, Fabian Nunez. SB 535, which funded environmental projects for poor communities in 2012, was authored by then-state senator Kevin de Leon. Assemblyman Cristina Garcia was the author of AB 617, which in 2017 called for the development of resources to reduce air pollution in disadvantaged communities. And the author of the SB 100, which obliges the state to produce 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2026 and 100% by 2045, was De Leon himself.

The authors of all these and many other laws are Latin American legislators.

And as far as environmental policymakers are concerned, seven of the 16 current members of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are Hispanic.

It is unacceptable for the Western Oil Association to claim to speak on behalf of the Hispanic community. And on their behalf, they distort the truth about the Latin American leadership, which fought to protect the population from the harmful effects of environmental pollution.

Because on behalf of herself.

They have criticized laws and regulations that would increase the share of electric vehicles in the state, starting with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order banning new internal combustion engines by 2035. They rightly point out the high prices of these cars and the lack of charging stations. y the public in regions of the state, in low-income urban areas and in tenements where the population lives. And these are real problems. But his criticism comes from his pursuit of profit, not concern for our families. Because if that were the case, they would be participating in an effort to precisely lower prices and open more charging points everywhere.

That’s why his complaints that electric cars are “bought by the rich,” that such prices make them out of reach for working families, sound unconvincing.

Because this is demonstrated by the same study published in PLOS Climate that uses the WSPA to encourage the community to put their own interests aside. These studies confirm that where there is a lot of electric vehicles, pollution decreases, but this happens in areas with higher incomes. The logical solution is more electric vehicles and moving away from combustion-engine cars, which produce pollutants that are harmful to our health. And, citing the same source, they mention: “expand public and home charging networks, fund more discounts for low- and middle-income residents, and increase the fleet of used electric vehicles.”

The oil industry has amassed billions of dollars in profits, impacting disproportionately on the health and well-being of Hispanic communities. It is well known that higher rates of asthma and cancer are directly related to oil wells and refineries.

If all this really bothers you, you should join the effort to remove unhealthy sources from where we live and invest in accelerating the transition to a clean economy as soon as possible, including but not limited to electric vehicles. .