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Santa Ana Climate and Public Health Emergency Resolution of 2021 <br />A RESOLUTION DECLARING A CLIMATE AND PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY, <br />COMMITTING TO POLICIES OPPOSING FOSSIL FUEL EXPANSION AND ACCELERATING <br />THE CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION AS PART OF THE SAFE CITIES MOVEMENT, <br />COMMITTING TO POLICIES THAT WILL REDUCE BOTH NEW AND EXISTING LEAD <br />CONTAMINATION, AND ENDORSING THE CALL FOR A GLOBAL FOSSIL FUEL <br />NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY. <br />WHEREAS, communities across the City of Santa Ana are impacted by the health and safety <br />risks of fossil fuels, climate change, lack of access to safe and open spaces and parks, lead, <br />and other environmental toxins; and <br />WHEREAS these risks can be exacerbated by zoning and land use decisions as well as urban <br />development. Urban development on a grand scale has threatened residents with increased <br />traffic and emissions, and thus may foster an increased heat island effect, elevating heat <br />temperatures, incurring the threat of wildfires and additional health disparities such as asthma, <br />obesity, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and <br />WHEREAS, these health and safety risks disproportionately impact those who also face <br />environmental justice and socioeconomic and health inequities, including youth, elders, <br />Indigenous people, people of color, low-income people, migrant communities, those <br />experiencing mental and physical disabilities, those experiencing houselessness, and people <br />with health conditions; and <br />WHEREAS, the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure and expanded reliance on fossil <br />fuels exposes communities to substantial risks to the public's health and safety at the local and <br />global levels; and <br />WHEREAS, human exposure to lead via soil and other sources has been directly linked in <br />children to a number of neurological issues, including smaller brain volume, lower working <br />memory and processing speed, more limited perceptual reasoning, poor school performance, <br />and asthma, and in adults to cardiovascular issues, renal problems, osteoporosis, and cognitive <br />deficiencies; and <br />WHEREAS, lead levels higher than safely permitted by the state of California and <br />recommended by experts have been found throughout Santa Ana neighborhoods'; and <br />WHEREAS, climate change exacerbates prolonged drought punctuated by unpredictable <br />atmospheric river behavior and flooding, more frequent extreme heat events, wildfires, stronger <br />Santa Ana winds, and warmer water temperatures that can result in increased circulation of lead <br />in local environments'; and <br />'ThinkProgress. "The Toxic Legacy of Lead Storymap." <br /><https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=05dd9a8ec7004882bl l3714e7fe5ee3a> <br />2 "The State of Public Health Lead Policies: Implications for Urban Health Inequities and Recommendations for Health <br />Equity"<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6466291/> <br />