Our Valley Our Voices
OUR VALLEYOUR VOICES
Kern County is a region replete with paradoxes, many of which create significant challenges to achieving healthy lives and neighborhoods. Kern County feeds the nation with fresh produce, while the many farmworker communities within it do not have access to affordable healthy food. It produces billions of dollars from oil and agricultural production, but is one of the poorest regions in the country with some of the highest rates of unemployment. It is in one of the fastest growing regions in terms of solar and wind power, but also produces 75% of the oil in California. It conveys clean water to Southern California via the California Aqueduct, yet its residents rely on expensive contaminated well-water for drinking and washing.
Community leaders have banded together across the region to address these challenges head-on through identifying and advocating for solution-oriented policies to improve the quality of life for all Kern County residents. These leaders have collaboratively identified a set of concrete, achievable policy priorities that will promote a clean and healthy environment, enhance public health and safety, improve public infrastructure and services, and increase job opportunities and economic development. The policy platform presented here is designed to guide local, state, and federal decision-making processes in order to bring positive change to the region.
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