Clean Air Council’s successful community organizing campaign Neighbors for Clean Air trains residents with little background in advocacy to become environmental watchdogs in their community and region. The Neighbors for Clean Air campaign began in southwestern Pennsylvania to promote increased public engagement and help residents be directly involved in the decisions that impact health and quality of life in their communities. These new community based groups successfully advocated for local governments to be more responsive to their environmental and quality of life concerns.
Today, Clean Air Council community organizers have trained 70 leaders to start groups composed of up to ten of their neighbors. These groups of resident watchdogs help to reduce air pollution from the largest polluter of air toxics and greenhouse gases in the region – the Clairton Coke Works. The Council also trained the Allison Park Neighbors group and helped them successfully push their local officials to improve oil and gas siting restrictions in Franklin Park, PA.
The Neighbors for Clean Air campaign is critical for building robust and sustained grassroots power to participate in state and local permitting decisions. The Council continues to help residents across Southwestern Pennsylvania to improve local and regional air quality, slow the effects of climate change, and assist with other environmental issues through training and education.
If you are interested in learning more about the Council’s Neighbors for Clean Air program email Jay at jwalker@cleanair.org
