Orange County
Environmental Justice
PEOPLE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
The People for Environmental Justice (P4EJ) campaign was created to empower residents with knowledge and action steps to address environmental injustices in the region. P4EJ engages in community and civic engagement through a variety of methods including door-to-door canvassing, coalition building, educational workshops, and other community events.
Our History
In 2021, we collaborated with the Orange County Civic Engagement Table (OCCET) to launch a redistricting campaign to advocate for truly representative electoral districts in local, county, and state government, as well as in school and water boards. Through this effort, we won more equitable and environmental justice-centered electoral maps for the OC Board of Supervisors (see image) and at the city council, state assembly, state senate, and congressional levels in the cities of Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Fullerton.
From 2022-2024, P4EJ facilitated broad coalitions of residents and grassroots organizations in cities to advocate for policy solutions to environmental and climate injustices through city General Plan Updates, and resident generated Climate Adaptation and Action Plans. On a regional level, we have worked alongside multiple community based organizations, neighborhood associations, and grassroot organizations to create collaborative movements to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change through ground-up solutions based on indigenous ecological knowledge.
Emergency Preparedness
Let's prepare for emergencies together!
Between June 2024 and February 2025, OCEJ in partnership with OCCET took part in Ready Rep, a program by California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications. This program focused on educating and empowering residents to equip them with the knowledge and resources necessary to respond to emergencies. Through this program OCEJ was able to host sixteen house meetings, four workshops, one summit, and engage in over 350 conversations with residents via door-to-door canvassing.
The impact of this program was significant, as many residents shared that before participating in this program, emergency preparedness seemed like a daunting task. By leaning into community, having honest conversations about needs and resources, and relationship building - emergency preparedness then became about collective effort and response.
Participating in this program allowed our organization to realize the importance and need for continuous efforts to prepare our community for emergencies. We are stronger together and ongoing support is necessary so our families and neighborhoods are prepared, and more importantly so no one gets left behind in moments of disaster. Since then, our organization has begun developing our own emergency preparedness and awareness program, with hopes to begin hosting workshops and other educational events in Fall 2025.
The California Air Resources Board, Aclima, Climate Action Campaign (CAC), and OCEJ are teaming up to measure air pollution in Santa Ana. In doing so, the testing is aiming to create a comprehensive picture of air quality in our community.
In April and May 2025, OCEJ and CAC held community meetings in Santa Ana to introduce the project and identify priority areas for air quality testing in our community. This input was integrated into a Community Air Monitoring Plan that will guide the planning and execution of air monitoring, which is the next step of the program.
Beginning in June 2025 electric vehicles with air monitoring sensors will be measuring air quality in Santa Ana, and in other cities across California. Results of this testing will be made publicly available beginning in summer 2026.
To learn more about this effort, please follow the link below to Aclima's webpage.