Overview: Environmental justice asserts that environmental issues and social justice are inextricably linked. The People’s Collective for Environmental Justice Action (PC4EJ) recently celebrated a major victory as the Inland Valley Development Agency (IVDA) board voted to abandon the Inland Valley Infrastructure Corridor Project (IVIC) near the San Bernardino Airport, which would have displaced families and disrupted the community. Meanwhile, a report by the University of California, Riverside, highlighted that the transportation, distribution, and logistics (TDL) sector is the major source of employment in San Bernardino County, and the second largest employer in Riverside County, but provides “low-wage, unsafe, and insecure” jobs.
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In September, the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice Action (PC4EJ) celebrated a major victory.
The victory was triggered on September 10, when the Inland Valley Development Agency (IVDA) board voted to abandon the Inland Valley Infrastructure Corridor Project (IVIC), near the San Bernardino Airport. This was the second time in two years IVDA back-tracked and abandoned redevelopment plans near the airport. The plan called for the displacement of families and other disruptions to the community.
Those who opposed the project claimed the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) related to it was flawed, and as a result the project presented “understated risks” to local communities, putting children, elders and families at greater risk for poor health outcomes.
In the midst of all the toxic and deafening noise washing over us from the White House, including an unstable economy, threats of a government shutdown, absurd directions regarding vaccines coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, continuing ICE raids and arrests, national guard deployments etc. sometimes it is difficult to stay tuned-in to one of, if not, the most significant issue impacting the economy and quality of life here in the inland region. That issue is warehousing, or as it is labeled today— the transportation, distribution, and logistics (TDL) sector of the region’s economy.
In February 2024, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, in collaboration with community partners, published, “The State of Work: Transportation, Distribution and Logistics in the Inland Empire,”
The collaboration was expansively inclusive. Among the participants were UCR’s Inland Empire Labor and Community Center and collaborators included the Inland Empire Labor Institute—an AFL-CIO affiliate and non-profit arm of the Inland Empire Labor Council; and Plug In IE, a training partnership funded by the California Workforce Development Board.
The report validated what was already widely accepted, that TDL is the major source of employment in San Bernardino County, and the second largest employer in Riverside County.
The report also shone a spotlight on another well known aspect of local warehousing—that Black and Latino residents are disproportionately employed in this industry as warehouse workers or truck drivers. And, as might be expected of an American industry that employs a large number of Black and Brown people in a primarily non union environment, the TDL industry is also recognized for providing “low-wage, unsafe, and insecure” jobs.
“Environmental activism isn’t just about protecting the natural world—it’s also about protecting people. Nowhere is this concept better illustrated than with the environmental justice movement. At its most basic level, environmental justice asserts that environmental issues and social justice are inextricably linked.”
The Goldman Environmental Prize
Although this aspect of TLC employment is not surprising, it is a classic example of corporate activity currently deployed by corporate leaders like major industry player and Amazon leader, Jeff Bezos, who enjoys life as one of the world’s wealthiest men, while Amazon employees are paid the bare minimum. For example, the UCR report details the reality that laborers, stockers and order fillers, “are among the lowest paid positions, receiving a median salary of just over $25,000 per year.” However, packers and packagers receive even less, earning “a median annual salary of just over $23,000 per year.”
Now, however, even these low wage jobs are at risk in light of increased workplace automation in the TDL industry that, regardless of industry denials, will probably do away with many of the jobs held by these poorly compensated employees. We know how advancements in technology can streamline industry employment opportunities.
Initially, the biggest selling point for the warehouse industry was the promise of good jobs, but the good jobs haven’t materialized and those that did are likely to give way to robotics. So, it begs the question: At what cost to the environment and health of the community does the TDL industry continue to expand?
There are more than 3,321 warehouses that are 100,000 square feet or larger in the South Coast Air Basin that consists of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. These warehouses result in nearly “200 million diesel truck trips,” per year. These trips produce more than 300,000 pounds of diesel particulate matter, 30 million pounds of nitrogen oxide, and 15 billion pounds of carbon dioxide. This degradation of air quality puts local residents (adults and children) at greater risk for higher rates of asthma and cancer.
Another disturbing truth is that within the South Coast Air Basin, there are at least 640 schools that sit within a half mile radius of a warehouse.
It is also important to keep in mind that year after year the Inland Empire continues to have the highest concentrations of ozone in the country according to the American Lung Association.
These impacts are especially concerning for Black, Brown and low income communities where the majority of these warehouses are placed and even more so for the Latino community in the inland region who are the majority in both counties.
A July 2024 report by the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health reiterated findings of a previous report that noted communities of color in the US face an increasing burden from air pollution. According to the report, these communities have rates of childhood asthma that are “nearly 8 times higher from exposure to nitrogen dioxide” and premature death rates are 30% higher as a result of exposure to fine particulate matter, both of which are emitted by cars, trucks and other vehicles.
It is important to keep this reality in mind as we continue to advocate for greater consideration of the health impacts of warehousing. This is even more important today in light of the roll back of environmental protections by the Trump administration.
As we look to the future of warehousing in the region, we must be more clear-eyed about the quality of jobs being in exchange for the degradation of our environment, the increased asthma rates among our children and the shortened lives we are imposing on ourselves, our loved ones, friends and neighbors. For these reasons, among others, I congratulate, celebrate and appreciate the efforts of those like the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice Action for their continued advocacy and recent successes in the quest for environmental justice equity on behalf of our community.
Of course, this is just my opinion. I’m keeping it real.