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Mural in Exeter, CA (Leon Kaye)
Fresno is the economic capital of the San Joaquin Valley, the breadbasket of California and the U.S. What was once home to wild grasslands and the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River, has transformed into valuable agricultural land where livestock and high-value crops such as nuts, stone fruit, and grapes have created some of the wealthiest farmers and ranchers in the country. However, unemployment in the region has long hovered around 20 percent because of the seasonal nature of farm labor.
To understand pollution in the valley, you have to understand its geography. The San Joaquin Valley is 250 miles long and shaped like a canoe with mountain ranges on both sides – the Coastal Ranges to the west and Sierras to the east. This geographical formation creates a protected valley ideal for farming, but the mountain ranges that keep out wind also trap the ozone and particulate matter. The leading sources of local air pollution are agricultural activities (think agricultural burning and heavy duty diesel farm equipment) and motor vehicles which traverse the freeways running straight along the valley connecting northern and southern California. Of the 10 cities with the highest year-round particulate pollution in the country, five are in the valley: Bakersfield, Merced, Fresno, Hanford-Corcoran (which rank from one to four) and Visalia (ranked seven).
While vast disparities in wealth mean it’s possible to find very affluent neighborhoods in Fresno and Visalia, many neighborhoods are very poor. And the San Joaquin Valley’s poor bear the brunt of environmental impacts as their neighborhoods suffer from high rates of child asthma.
Yet a strong and growing environmental justice movement is taking shape, fighting to raise awareness about the devastating health issues in the region. While the long-term problems Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley face show the limits of what any regulatory agency can achieve, hope still shines. The strength shown by faith-based groups in the region demonstrates how religious organizations can work with both the environmental movement and regulators to advocate for the nation’s poorest and most marginalized people.
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The 
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Ford Motor Company is a sustainable company in more ways than one. It is financially sustainable. It is the only one of the Big Three that didn’t need a bailout from the government when the economy went south. It is environmentally sustainable. The company made it to the number two spot on 
TriplePundit attended the 
1% for the Planet is an alliance of more than 1,200 businesses who have agreed to donate 1% of their sales to more than 3,000 different environmental causes – a total of close to $100 million since the alliance launched about 10 years ago. Food, water, conservation and education are among the most popular causes, though the exact destination of funding is entirely up to the companies in question. The result is a tremendous financial help to many organizations, as well as a boon to companies whose customers are looking to spend their money in a conscious manner.
WattzOn is an energy management platform for consumers to get a handle on their energy consumption and make easy changes to reduce it. The product works according to the old MBA adage – what gets measured gets managed. According to Dan Sheehy, WattzOn’s Executive VP, the results can be hundreds of dollars in savings and very significant reductions in energy waste.
Since launching on 
By Grant Ricketts
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“Most supplier responsibility programs are compliance-focused, with most of their resources consumed by conducting audits, correcting deficiencies, and following up,” Tim Mohin writes in his book “
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