Demand Clean Air Equity for Low-Income San Diego Communities

Low-income neighborhoods in San Diego — Barrio Logan, National City, Chula Vista, and Logan Heights — face PM2.5 pollution levels that exceed the EPA's annual safety limit of 12 µg/m³. Barrio Logan sits at 14.2 and National City at 13.8, while La Jolla is just 4.7. Families in these zip codes spend $5,600 to $14,000 per year on pollution-related healthcare, missed work, and lost wages. For a family earning $28,000, that's 32% of their income. This isn't random — decades of redlining and inequitable zoning placed these communities next to freeways, ports, and industrial facilities. We demand that San Diego County expand real-time air quality monitoring in these neighborhoods, increase outreach so low-income families know about financial relief programs they qualify for, and strengthen emissions enforcement for industrial and freight operations near homes. The same air should not cost different amounts based on your zip code.