FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: David Schecter
Thursday, February 28, 2008	559-307-7250

Swearengin Calls for Fair Share for Valley Air

California Air Resource Board Considers Funding Allocations Today

Ashley Swearengin today called on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to fully support the Valley’s urgent effort to clean up our dirty air. She urged the Board to overturn the recommendations of CARB staff to send a majority of Proposition 1B Air Improvement Bond funds to Southern California.

“Today, Valley residents are breathing the state’s dirtiest air,“ Swearengin said. “The decisions being made by the Air Resources Board will determine how much longer we will all have to suffer with the effects of poor air quality in our local communities.”

Swearengin, a Fresno mayoral candidate, is a respected community leader and the mother of a young child diagnosed with asthma.

According to a 2005 survey, nearly one in every three children in Fresno County is afflicted with asthma. That’s the highest rate of any county in California. “Over 75,000 children in our county are suffering from this debilitating respiratory disease, and the number is growing,” Swearengin said. “This is a health epidemic that the Air Resources Board can and must help us reverse.”

CARB is meeting in Sacramento today. A public hearing is scheduled and then CARB will make a final decision as to how the first $250 million of the $1 billion from Proposition 1B air quality dollars will be allocated.  The allocation of this funding will set an important precedent for the allocation of the remaining $750 million. 

CARB staff has recommended that 25% of the funds go to the Central Valley, including the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys.  In a letter to the Air Resources Board, the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is seeking an allocation of up to 37% to 42% of the funds for Valley air improvement efforts.

“I strongly agree that a larger share of these funds should be directed to our Valley,” Swearengin said. “As Mayor, I will continue the fight to obtain the resources Fresno needs to clean up our air as rapidly as possible.”

Today, Swearengin also released her “Clean Air, Clean Energy” policy. It sets goals for establishing Fresno as a model city for air quality through greater use of “green technology” and by expanding the use of clean energy, such as solar and other renewable sources. As Mayor, Swearengin will also provide leadership to tackle air quality and clean energy issues on a regional level.

The full text of Swearengin’s Clean Air and Clean Energy policy can be found on her website: www.ashley4mayor.com (see “Policy Papers”).

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