Equity and Hydrogen

Environmental Justice Position on Green Hydrogen in California

As the State expands the use of hydrogen as a fuel, we offer guiding equity principles which are essential to respect and protect our communities.

We represent heavily-polluted communities throughout California. Our communities border oil refineries, gas-fired power plants, fossil fuel extraction facilities, waste processing centers, ports, transportation corridors and other polluting operations. Many of these facilities and operations emit toxins, foul smells, noise and cause nuisance impacting people’s quality of life at all hours of the day and night. These cumulative sources of pollution cause a wide range of adverse health outcomes in working class communities of color.

As the State of California expands the use of hydrogen as a fuel, we developed guiding principles in partnership with other environmental justice communities across the state. Our Equity Principles for Hydrogen represent our collective values and positions to support communities as hydrogen energy is utilized across the state.

We adamantly oppose all non-green hydrogen proposals and projects. We insist that new projects protect communities first and do not perpetuate the injustices that polluting infrastructures impose on fence-line communities today.

Joint Statement

Equity Principles of Hydrogen

Each stage of the hydrogen life cycle—production, delivery, storage, and end use—can present unique risks and harms to environmental justice communities and to all Californians.

Discussions about building new green hydrogen infrastructure must involve the community, and its members should be meaningfully engaged. Siting green hydrogen infrastructure should also take into account the cumulative impacts of environmental justice communities and the risks associated with hydrogen.

In a series of learning sessions and workshops conducted with environmental justice partners, we analyzed the current science and risks of hydrogen production, delivery, storage, and end-use. Through this process, we developed a series of shared positions to guide our community advocacy and legislative work on hydrogen.