September 9, 2015

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

As Latino leaders and as members or representatives of the undersigned Latino organizations, businesses, and concerned communities, we are committed to our community’s health, economic advancement, safety and well-being. We therefore strongly support the latest of your many actions to curb the threat we face from climate change, the final Clean Power Plan Rule.

The Latino community is on the frontlines of climate change: searing heat, severe drought, and air pollution threaten our health, the well-being of our communities, and the economy. Latinos are ready to act on climate. Polling has found that 95% of Latinos want action on climate change regardless of political affiliation, income or educational level, and some 70% of Latinos believe they will be personally affected by climate change.

Our country must lead the world in our response to this global crisis and we believe that the Clean Power Plan will move us toward a cleaner and healthier environment for our children while also charting the path to a clean energy future.

We applaud the final Clean Power Plan sets flexible and achievable standards to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, 9 percent more ambitious than the proposal. We believe that the Clean Power Plan can achieve even greater pollution reductions by scaling up energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the United States. This will reduce carbon pollution and tons of other harmful air pollutants that impact Latino communities severely. The Plan will also spur innovation and investment in clean energy, generating hundreds of thousands of jobs and savings on energy bills.

We thank you for your leadership and pledge to work with you in support of the work ahead that must be done by states to ensure that their carbon-reduction plans are strongly protective of our communities’ health and economic future.

Sincerely,

Giselle Achecar
Managing Director, Founder & CEO
EcoRico Entertainment, LLC

Cristóbal J. Alex
President
Latino Victory Foundation

Jose Aristimuño
CEO
Latino Giant

Dr. Yadira Caraveo
Pediatrician

Maria Cardona
Principal
Dewey Square Group/Latinovations

Arturo Carmona
Executive Director
Presente.org

Chris Castro
Co-Founder
Citizen Energy

Eligio Cedeño
CEO
Vme Television

Honorable Henry Cisneros
Former Secretary of Housing & Urban Development
Former Mayor of San Antonio

Honorable Manuel Diaz
Former Mayor of Miami

Cesar A. Dovalina Jr.
President & CEO
Cristina Foods, Inc.

Clayton Louis Ferrara
Executive Director
IDEAS for Us

Dr. Antonio Flores
President & CEO
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities

Jose G. Gonzalez
Executive Director
Green Chicano

Amy Hinojosa
Executive Director
MANA – A Latina Organization

Dr. Jennifer Holmgren
CEO
LanzaTech

Lisa Hoyos
Director & Co-Founder
Climate Parents

Rafael Hurtado
Legislative Correspondent
Office of Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez

Nicolas Ibargüen
President; *abc Foundation Green Forum
Univision Networks & Fusion

Marina La Grave
President & CEO
Centro Latino Americano para las Artes,
Ciencia y Educación

Catalina Lamadrid
Principal
Inova Energy Group

Honorable Alfonso Lopez
Virginia House of Delegates

Dr. Antonio Lopez
Executive Director
Little Village Environmental Justice Organization

Edwin Luevanos
Co-Founder & CEO
Citizen Energy

Mark Magaña
President
GreenLatinos

Ben Monterroso
Executive Director
Mi Familia Vota

Xavier Morales
Executive Director
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California

Rachel Morello-Frosch, Ph.D., MPH
Professor Environmental Science, Policy & Management
University of California, Berkeley

Adrianna Quintero
Executive Director
Voces Verdes

Elianne Ramos
Founder & CEO
Speak Hispanic, LLC

Mildred Real
CEO
Common Ground for Conservation/America
Verde

Honorable Bill Richardson
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Former Secretary of Energy,
Former Governor of New Mexico

Dr. Sergio, Rimola
Co-chair, DC Metro Steering Committee
National Hispanic Medical Association

Dr. Elena Rios
President & CEO
National Hispanic Medical Association

Patricia Romero-Lankao, Ph. D.
Climate Research Scientist
National Center for Atmospheric Research
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero
President
National Latino Evangelical Coalition

Joe Sanchez
COO Solar 4

Graciela Tiscareño-Sato
Founder
Gracefully Global Group LLC.

Olga Torres
President
Hampton Roads Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Irene Vilar
Executive Director
Americas for Conservation