Protest Planned During RivCo Air Resources Board Meeting

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA - Several hundred people are expected to demonstrate Thursday outside the County Administrative Center in downtown Riverside to call attention to air pollution and health concerns over warehousing operations in the Inland Empire.

The demonstration will coincide with a public hearing to be convened by the California Air Resources Board at the county building to delve into an agenda focused on a number of issues, including amendments to the cap-and-trade system.

The Sierra Club, the Center for Community Action & Environmental Justice, the Inland Coalition for Equity and Prosperity, LA Freight Voice and My Generation Campaign are organizing the outdoor rally to instigate action on curbing emissions from trucks that come and go from mega warehouses in Jurupa Valley, Moreno Valley, Ontario and surrounding cities, according to organizers.

An open podium will be set up outside the administrative complex for speakers to vent their grievances while the CARB meeting is underway.

"Despite decades of opposition from the community, the movement of goods by freight vehicles continues to bring air pollution to the inland community, causing asthma, cancer, heart disease, emphysema and early death for residents," according to a Center for Community Action & Environmental Justice statement.

"Last year, more than 200 community members gathered to call for more stringent regulations on emissions from freight traffic," the statement continued. "Now, one year later, the inland community is coming together again to demand that the California Air Resources board do everything in its power to take immediate action for clean air in the region."

The CARB meeting will last most of the day, and the board will be taking public comment on any topic of interest, regardless of whether it appears on the agenda.

The board will be conducting another meeting on Friday to complete its business.

— By City News Service / PHOTO: Sandy Huffaker / Stringer / Getty Images