Home › Contributors › Adrian Martinez
Adrian Martinez, Staff Attorney, Environmental Justice, Santa Monica, California
I grew up in eastern North Carolina. I’d say my introduction to environmentalism actually happened through my involvement in the Boy Scouts. I really enjoyed camping and outdoor activities, and my troop engaged in these activities all the time. I also have to give credit to my mom for instilling the virtues of environmentalism, including promoting activities like recycling, at an early age. I attended college in North Carolina and chose Environmental Sciences and Policy as a major. I then attended law school with a desire to work as an environmental lawyer. Since 2004, I have had the pleasure to work with a great team of lawyers and scientists at NRDC. For the first five years, I was a full time "smog attorney" working to clean up some of the filthiest air in the nation. I have since shifted to work on environmental justice issues, which allows me to collaborate with a wide range of groups and individuals in various communities. While challenging, it is great to seek to address some of the environmental injustices that are currently happening throughout California.
Recent Posts
Posted January 27, 2012 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- airpollution, epa, losangeles, losangelescleanair, ozone, smog
About a year ago, I blogged about a significant legal victory for clean air and clean transportation in the Los Angeles region. You can read that blog here. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed its earlier decision today, which...continued→
Posted January 4, 2012 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- california, cleanair, cleanairact, environmentaljustice, highwaypollution, highways, losangeles
Yesterday, NRDC along with Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles and Communities for a Better Environment filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) challenging the failure to provide air monitoring for harmful particulate pollution near highways in the Los Angeles region. You can...continued→
Posted December 6, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming
- Tags:
- dontwastela, lacitycouncil, recycling, sustainablecommunities, waste
The City Council of Los Angeles voted today to give private waste haulers servicing businesses notice that the City wants to get serious about improving its recycling rates. This notice is required by law before a City may change the...continued→
Posted November 23, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably
- Tags:
- lacitycouncil, losangeles, losangeleswaste, recycling
Yesterday, as reported in the LA Daily News, the Energy and Environment committee of the Los Angeles City Council approved an important decision to give waste haulers servicing LA’s businesses notice that it will be exploring options to make its...continued→
Posted November 15, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably
- Tags:
- bluegreen, cleanjobs, climatechange, greeneconomy, recycling, teamsters, zerowaste
Today is America Recycles Day, and I had the good fortune to share some excellent news about an important report that will hopefully spur a bold vision from our national and local leaders on recycling. The report titled More Jobs,...continued→
Posted November 11, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably
- Tags:
- latransportation, losangeles
I was very pleased to read the David Zahniser and Ari Bloomekatz piece in the LA Times yesterday about the Mayor’s plan to fast track street improvements in Los Angeles. You can read the article here. The LA Times published a...continued→
Posted November 7, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- LosAngeles, losangelescleanair, losangelestransportation, transit, transportation, transportationpolicy
The LA Times has run a series of provocative articles on “Buy Here, Pay Here” dealerships, which according to the articles can have vicious impacts on consumers, particularly the low-income consumers that tend to use these services. The articles can...continued→
Posted October 28, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- diesel, dieselpollution, environmentaljustice, LongBeach, longbeachport, portgrowth, portoflongbeach, portoflosangeles, portpollution, ports, wilmington
Hudson Elementary School in Long Beach sits at the crossroads where learning your ABCs meets breathing your UFPs. UFP stands for Ultra-fine Particles, which are particles so tiny they can lodge deeply into young children’s lungs and even enter their...continued→
Posted October 21, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- losangeles, losangeleswaste
I posted a brief piece on waste issues in LA on the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy's blog called the Frying Pan. In the piece, I discuss the need for an exclusive franchise with strong standards for LA's system of handling...continued→
Posted October 5, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- cleanenergy, climatechange, climateride, environmentaljustice, sustainablecommunities
Today is the third day of Climate Ride California 2011. Climate Ride is a 320 mile, 5 day charitable bicycle ride that seeks to raise awareness and funds for the health of the planet. The funds raised go to...continued→
Posted July 26, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil
- Tags:
- losangeles, losangeleswaste
Last week, Los Angeles hosted an environmental stakeholder meeting to discuss potential reform to the way the City handles waste and recycling. This meeting is one in a series of stakeholder meetings that includes business, hauling, labor and community interests. ...continued→
Posted July 19, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably
- Tags:
- airpollution, aqmd, asthma, california, carmageddon, epa, losangeles, ozone, smog
Today, the LA Times reported on a lawsuit filed by health, environmental and environmental justice groups filed yesterday in the Los Angeles region. Later in the day, LA Times reporter Paul Whitefield took to the Opinion LA blog analyzing the comments received...continued→
Posted July 18, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- california, cleanair, cleanairact, environmentaljustice, losangeles, losangelescleanair
It’s been slightly more than 60 days since we, along with Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles and environmental justice groups filed a letter of intent to sue the EPA for failing to enforce the Clean Air Act in the Los...continued→
Posted July 1, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- california, cleanair, earthjustice, EPA, houston, losangeles, losangelescleanair, ozone, sanjoaquinvalley
Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in favor of clean air and promoting stronger public health for millions of Americans. The case dealt with a challenge to an EPA guidance document that failed to...continued→
Posted June 27, 2011 by Adrian Martinez in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
- Tags:
- airpollution, bicycling, bike, latransportation, losangelescleanair, transportation
Today, the Daily Breeze reported that LA Metro approved $176 million of Measure R funds for road “improvement” projects over the next five years in the South Bay. While I have not looked into the details of each and every...continued→