I would like to issue our elected officials a challenge — let’s stop treating the health of Americans and the quality of our natural environment as partisan challenges and instead embrace them as moral obligations.

Submit joint letter regarding the more than one million Californians exposed to contaminated water everyday

LOS ANGELES - Today, 35 Latino faith leaders from Los Angeles County submitted a joint letter to Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Adkins outlining their support for the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund to help solve California's drinking water crisis. Drinking water for nearly one million Californians, many of which are minority or low-income, comes from public water systems that are failing to meet federal standards. Consuming contaminated water can cause a variety of both short and long-term health effects -birth defects, diabetes, heart disease and cancer - with children and the elderly typically at greatest risk.

I have always been fascinated by the natural and cultural history of the southwest, specifically those in the four corners region (Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico). My curiosity sparked when I began to learn more about the establishment of California in middle school through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Though I mostly learned about California (since I am from there), I was ambitious to learn and explore more about the other territories that were also involved in the treaty, such as Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Thanks to the Hispanic Access Foundation, I am currently pursuing my interests in the Southwest with the US Forest Service, specifically at Chimney Rock National Monument at the San Juan National Forest in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Sixteen Latino organizations working in the western United States jointly sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management on April 23rd, opposing any revisions to the BLM’s Methane and Waste Prevention Rule, which curbs natural gas waste by requiring existing oil and gas operations on public lands to use the most up-to-date technology to capture wasted natural gas and repair leaks from equipment.

Urge Administration to Leave Rule Unchanged and Protect Communities

WASHINGTON - Today, 16 Latino organizations working in the western United States jointly sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management opposing any revisions to the BLM's Methane and Waste Prevention Rule, which curbs natural gas waste by requiring existing oil and gas operations on public lands to use the most up-to-date technology to capture wasted natural gas and repair leaks from equipment.

It’s no secret that the outdoor industry and outdoor enthusiasts are by and large a privileged group. Outdoor recreation often requires traveling long distances and can be expensive, dissuading many without the time or means to participate. Additionally, because it exists almost entirely in a privileged milieu, its imbalances are perpetuated.

Mountain West voters weighed in on the Trump administration’s priorities for managing the use and protection of public lands in a new Colorado College State of the Rockies Project Conservation in the West Poll released today. The poll, now in its eighth year, surveyed the views of voters in eight Mountain West states on some of the most pressing issues involving public lands and waters, including proposals to eliminate or alter national monuments. Hispanic Access Foundation highlighted the Latino results during today’s press conference.

Today, over 45 Latino faith leaders representing communities from California to Florida submitted comments in opposition of the proposed repeal of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. Their comments urged EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to uphold the Clean Power Plan and protect the health of Latino communities and future generations. The Clean Power Plan seeks to reduce carbon pollution from power plants, the nation’s largest source, while maintaining energy reliability and affordability.

Por la Creación Faith-based Alliance (PLC), which develops stewards of God’s creation by educating and engaging this generation to leave a legacy for the future, has released its “Top 5 Conservation Priorities” and is encouraging Latinos nationwide to share their support for national monuments in response to the Trump Administration’s recommendations to reduce the size of multiple monuments and open up others to commercial use.

Following the Washington Post report that Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke is recommending that at least four monuments should be reduced in size and several other should be opened up for commercial activities -- in direct contrast to the 2.8 million comments submitted where 99 percent were in support of maintaining or expanding the existing national monuments -- Maite Arce, president and CEO of Hispanic Access Foundation, released the following statement: