Cool API environmentalist: Allison Chin

With Allison Chin in front of the Sierra Club office in Washington DC. Photo by Lisa Fouladbash.

Allison Chin is one of my Asian American eco-heroines.  She is the current president of the Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. As president, she is the top leader of the Club’s volunteer structure.

Even before I was hired by the Sierra Club, I’d seen her blog on the Sierra Club’s website and thought, “Wow! She’s pretty cool!”

I got to meet Allison Chin when I went to Washington DC for orientation for my new job at the Sierra Club.

Allison stopped by to have lunch with us and shared that volunteerism and an appreciation for the environment have played big roles in her life since she was young.  She is optimistic about Asian Pacific Islander Americans’ growing involvement in the environmental movement, especially as APIs recognize that a healthy environment is important for human health and going green saves money in the long term.

Earlier this month, I was working in the Sierra Club’s San Francisco office, making phone calls alongside volunteers nationwide to urge constituents to thank their congresspeople for voting for the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

By the end of the two hour phone banking period, all the volunteers had logged off the system — except for Allison!  She was still on the line making phone calls, and there was nothing we could do but let her keep going!  Despite her busy schedule, Allison remains a true volunteer.  Talk about inspiring!

— posted by Debbie Chong

Poll finds Asian Americans “strong environmentalists”

Recent Asian American immigrants strongly support environmental protection and legislation. How do the environmental attitudes of U.S. born and/or raised Asian Americans compare? Photo by Debbie Chong.

An article by Ngoc Nguyen in today’s New America Media website reports that “among California’s Asian Americans, 83 percent describe themselves as ‘environmentalists,’ compared to just 52 percent of all California voters, according to a first-ever poll on the environmental attitudes of Asian-American voters.”

The groundbreaking multilingual poll surveyed 1,002 Asian-American voters on their views about environmental issues and compared results to a poll of 564 state voters. Interviews were conducted with Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese and Asian Indian voters…

Eighty percent of Asian Pacific Islander (API) voters polled said they would vote for a candidate who has a strong environmental record, and 85 percent said they would support a ballot measure to protect the environment.

According to the article, most respondents were recent immigrants rather than U.S.-born, and their environmental concerns encompassed both local and global scales.

As one can see, outreach to Asian American immigrant voters will be key to gaining votes for environmentally-friendly political candidates and legislation.  This  survey refutes the stereotype that Asian immigrants are more concerned with money than the environment.

Now what I would like to see is a survey among 1.5-generation and U.S.-born Asian Americans.  What are the environmental attitudes of Asian Americans who were raised in the U.S.?  What are important issues for us?  Do we live, vote, and promote green?  How are we similar or different from our parents and grandparents?

What do you think?  Leave your comments below!

— posted by Debbie Chong

API environmentalist Dorothy Le’s thoughts on minorities and the green movement

Dorothy Le speaks out about Los Angeles transportation issues. Photo courtesy of Dorothy Le.

Vietnamese American Dorothy Le, 24, is a 2007 UCLA alumna who majored in Environmental Science and minored in Geography/Environmental Studies.  As an undergraduate, she led E3: Ecology, Economy, Equity, an environmental and social justice organization at UCLA and was involved in the  UC Divestment Taskforce, The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF), and the Statewide Sustainable Transportation Policy.

Dorothy is currently Planning and Policy Director for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC), where she works to increase bike facilities and bicycle and pedestrian access to transit hubs throughout Los Angeles County.

Pacific Ties: What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of environmental activism and advocacy work?

Dorothy Le: My favorite part of environmental activism is that I work to protect nature and the world in which we live.  It’s a beautiful world, and I want it to continue being beautiful for my children, grandchildren, and generations beyond.

My least favorite part of the environmental activism is that it sometimes doesn’t address race or social equity.  I have to work, as a woman of color, to incorporate race and equity into environmental work, but sometimes it’s difficult.  Especially with bicycling being such an activity dominated by white males, it’s quite a challenge to incorporate people of color and women, even though there are plenty of people of color and women who cycle.

Do you feel that Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans are proportionately involved in environmentalism and leadership positions?

I think there could be more Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans involved in environmentalism and leadership positions, of course.  It’s difficult though because of many cultural factors.

What cultural factors encourage or discourage activism?

These include parental pressures, societal pressures and confusion.  My parents wanted me to become a doctor, or a medical professional at least.  They didn’t understand how I could make a living doing what I am doing.  They just don’t understand the system very well and are scared that if I take a risk, then I’ll be losing a lot.  They would rather have me be safe.  I, though, am a person who takes risks and is okay with trying new things.  In order to be where I am today, I had to disobey my parents and communicate with them clearly about what I wanted to do.  That’s a difficult thing for anyone to do- to not have that support from your parents to do what you want is tremendously discouraging for Asian American people.

Being a Vietnamese American woman, in a society that is still dominated by white privilege, hierarchy, and power, it took me a long time to understand where I fit in, what my unique contribution was, and what my own privilege was- to overcome and make effective change.  I encourage everyone- Asian American, Latino American, African American, Caucasian, Native American- to understand their privilege, unique contribution and work to make the world a better place with their unique abilities and power.

Portions of this interview, plus Dorothy’s thoughts on women and environmentalism, are  featured in UCLA’s FEM newsmagazine.

— posted by Debbie Chong