September 9, 2015
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
As Latino leaders and as members or representatives of the undersigned Latino organizations, businesses, and concerned communities, we are committed to our community’s health, economic advancement, safety and well-being. We therefore strongly support the latest of your many actions to curb the threat we face from climate change, the final Clean Power Plan Rule.
The Latino community is on the frontlines of climate change: searing heat, severe drought, and air pollution threaten our health, the well-being of our communities, and the economy. Latinos are ready to act on climate. Polling has found that 95% of Latinos want action on climate change regardless of political affiliation, income or educational level, and some 70% of Latinos believe they will be personally affected by climate change.
Our country must lead the world in our response to this global crisis and we believe that the Clean Power Plan will move us toward a cleaner and healthier environment for our children while also charting the path to a clean energy future.
We applaud the final Clean Power Plan sets flexible and achievable standards to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, 9 percent more ambitious than the proposal. We believe that the Clean Power Plan can achieve even greater pollution reductions by scaling up energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the United States. This will reduce carbon pollution and tons of other harmful air pollutants that impact Latino communities severely. The Plan will also spur innovation and investment in clean energy, generating hundreds of thousands of jobs and savings on energy bills.
We thank you for your leadership and pledge to work with you in support of the work ahead that must be done by states to ensure that their carbon-reduction plans are strongly protective of our communities’ health and economic future.
Sincerely,
Giselle Achecar
Managing Director, Founder & CEO
EcoRico Entertainment, LLC
Cristóbal J. Alex
President
Latino Victory Foundation
Jose Aristimuño
CEO
Latino Giant
Dr. Yadira Caraveo
Pediatrician
Maria Cardona
Principal
Dewey Square Group/Latinovations
Arturo Carmona
Executive Director
Presente.org
Chris Castro
Co-Founder
Citizen Energy
Eligio Cedeño
CEO
Vme Television
Honorable Henry Cisneros
Former Secretary of Housing & Urban Development
Former Mayor of San Antonio
Honorable Manuel Diaz
Former Mayor of Miami
Cesar A. Dovalina Jr.
President & CEO
Cristina Foods, Inc.
Clayton Louis Ferrara
Executive Director
IDEAS for Us
Dr. Antonio Flores
President & CEO
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
Jose G. Gonzalez
Executive Director
Green Chicano
Amy Hinojosa
Executive Director
MANA – A Latina Organization
Dr. Jennifer Holmgren
CEO
LanzaTech
Lisa Hoyos
Director & Co-Founder
Climate Parents
Rafael Hurtado
Legislative Correspondent
Office of Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez
Nicolas Ibargüen
President; *abc Foundation Green Forum
Univision Networks & Fusion
Marina La Grave
President & CEO
Centro Latino Americano para las Artes,
Ciencia y Educación
Catalina Lamadrid
Principal
Inova Energy Group
Honorable Alfonso Lopez
Virginia House of Delegates
Dr. Antonio Lopez
Executive Director
Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
Edwin Luevanos
Co-Founder & CEO
Citizen Energy
Mark Magaña
President
GreenLatinos
Ben Monterroso
Executive Director
Mi Familia Vota
Xavier Morales
Executive Director
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
Rachel Morello-Frosch, Ph.D., MPH
Professor Environmental Science, Policy & Management
University of California, Berkeley
Adrianna Quintero
Executive Director
Voces Verdes
Elianne Ramos
Founder & CEO
Speak Hispanic, LLC
Mildred Real
CEO
Common Ground for Conservation/America
Verde
Honorable Bill Richardson
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Former Secretary of Energy,
Former Governor of New Mexico
Dr. Sergio, Rimola
Co-chair, DC Metro Steering Committee
National Hispanic Medical Association
Dr. Elena Rios
President & CEO
National Hispanic Medical Association
Patricia Romero-Lankao, Ph. D.
Climate Research Scientist
National Center for Atmospheric Research
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero
President
National Latino Evangelical Coalition
Joe Sanchez
COO Solar 4
Graciela Tiscareño-Sato
Founder
Gracefully Global Group LLC.
Olga Torres
President
Hampton Roads Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Irene Vilar
Executive Director
Americas for Conservation