The city council of Santa Ana, the predominantly Latino county seat of Orange County, California,  approved a cutting-edge resolution this month that not only declares a climate emergency, but simultaneously pledges that the city will limit or prevent exposure to lead and other environmental toxins among its population of more than 300,000 people.

The resolution, approved by a 6-1 vote on Tuesday, September 7, ensures that initiatives implemented to slow the climate crisis are paired with policies to mitigate economic inequalities, environmental injustices, and public health risks tied to pollution in vulnerable communities.

By passing the measure, the city council acknowledges the impact of climate change in driving up temperatures, increasing the frequency of extreme heat events, and exacerbating drought. As a remedy, the city is pledging to implement policies that promote decarbonization and electrification of buildings and transportation, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions across all industries and communities, and accelerate a clean-energy transition. In the resolution, Santa Ana declares its intent to transition to 100 percent clean, renewable, zero-carbon emission energy sources for its electric power supply before 2045.

The council then goes beyond simply climate, connecting warming to winds that can reintroduce soil lead into the atmosphere as soil dust. It commits to investigate and implement policies to limit or prevent exposure to lead and other environmental toxins from new and existing sources. Additionally, the city pledges to consider further measures to remediate contaminants putting Santa Ana residents in harm’s way.

The resolution drew praise from across the country, including from Ruth Ann Norton, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit Green & Healthy Homes Initiative in Baltimore, Maryland, who has spearheaded efforts to aggressively reduce childhood lead poisoning. She views Santa Ana’s resolution as a potential model that lays the groundwork for other cities to tackle issues that she sees as inseparable.

Read the full article about lead exposure in Orange County by Yvette Cabrera at Grist.