Mothers for Clean Air Receives Grant for
Southeast Houston Cleaner Communities Project

The North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation (NAFEC)
Supports Environmental Health-Improvement Project in Houston

For more information contact:
Jane Laping
Mothers for Clean Air
Tel: 713/526-0110
Fax: 713/526-0550

Janice Astbury, NAFEC Coordinator
Commission for Environmental Cooperation
Tel: (514) 350-4300
Fax: (514) 350-4314

Houston, July 18, 2000 -- The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) announced this week a $25,000 grant to Mothers for Clean Air in support of its Southeast Houston Cleaner Communities for Better Health project.

Mothers for Clean Air was one of the 16 groups from Canada, Mexico and the United States selected to receive funding through the CEC's North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation (NAFEC). NAFEC funds projects that tie into the CEC's priority areas: 1) advancing the conservation of biodiversity by linking it with trade in green goods and services, and 2) improving public access to information on pollutants and its use in decision-making and the advancement of environmental justice.

"It's very important for an international organization like the CEC to keep a hand in the work going on at the community level," Janine Ferretti, Executive Director of the CEC said.

"It's the front line of the environmental movement and often where the real progress is made. We figure it is at least as helpful for us to see how our program goals can actually be achieved on the ground as it is for the local projects to have our support," Ferretti said.

The Southeast Houston Cleaner Communities for Better Health project trains community members to address local pollution problems through monitoring air quality and increasing access to other environmental information. It also opens the dialogue among community, industry, and government for policy changes regarding industrial emissions and the placement of residential and public buildings close to industry and vice-versa.

"The entire community of Southeast Houston is affected by industrial emissions from dozens of petroleum refineries and chemical manufacturers on the highly industrialized Houston Ship Channel," Jane Laping, Mothers for Clean Air spokesperson said.

"Plus, vehicle emissions from three heavily-traveled freeways, diesel emissions from Hobby Airport only two miles to the west, and hazardous waste, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), discarded in a 13-acre Superfund site within ½ mile of two elementary schools are all things that are having disastrous effects on the residents of that area," Laping said.

Mothers for Clean Air (MfCA) is a non-profit organization concerned with air pollution in the Houston area and its effects on children's health. Mothers for Clean Air serves as a collective voice to keep state and local government, industry and consumers focused on obtaining and maintaining cleaner air for our children. The mission of MfCA is to educate its members and the public about air quality and its effects on children's health, to encourage the participation of children in learning about air quality, and to do what we can as individuals to prevent air pollution.

In this project, MfCA will be working with Unidos Contra Environmental Racism - a local grassroots organization, the Thurgood Marshall School of Law Environmental Justice Clinic, Clean Air Action - a program of the Houston-Galveston Area Council, and relevant City of Houston "Super Neighborhoods" to establish an autonomous group of Southeast Houston stakeholders.

Funds totaling $400,000 were awarded in this latest round of grants. Nearly 400 organizations submitted proposals for community-based environmental projects. NAFEC, which has made 142 grants totaling $5.4 million, was created in October 1995 by the three North American environment ministers to support projects that promote the goals and objectives of the CEC.

The CEC was established to build cooperation among Canada, Mexico and the United States in addressing environmental issues from a continental perspective, with a particular focus on those that arise in the context of liberalized trade.

For a full list of this year's CEC grant recipients, please consult the CEC web page: <www.cec.org>