In 2007, when Diana Vera heard that the California Energy Commission planned to build a bigger power plant in her neighborhood, the Chula Vista mother and grandmother took action. A larger plant would have been “like putting a dinosaur in the middle of the living room,” she says. “It was so unfair to the community.”

The Energy Commission plan would have more than doubled the size of an existing power plant—which is near an elementary school and a retirement community. The plant “would have run more often and could have emitted significantly higher levels of pollution,” says Laura Hunter of the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC). Air pollution can cause asthma and other health problems, particularly in children.

EHC brought together Chula Vista residents to successfully fight the power plant’s expansion. Residents worked to:

Learn about the issues: EHC helped hire an attorney and educate the community. Residents attended a training session about the health impacts of the power plant and how to take action by writing letters and testifying at public hearings.

Residents got involved in the campaign, says Hunter, because “they saw what happened when they didn’t speak out [about the original power plant]. They got stuck with a power plant that they didn’t want.”

Involve the community: “We went door to door to inform neighbors and educate people about what they [would] be inhaling,” says Carlos Lopez, father and community activist. “We encouraged them to fight for their right to breathe clean air. We had to protect the children,” he adds.

“A lot of people would say, ‘You’re just wasting your time,’” adds Vera, “but I kept going because I believed in this.”

Get support from local government: Residents asked City Council Member Rudy Ramirez to support the campaign. “We went to speak with him,” says Lopez. “He already knew about the issue [and] really thought of the children.”

Ramirez, father of an 8 year-old, says he supported the campaign “not only [because] of the possible health effects—I thought, how would the children feel knowing that their community allowed something like this to happen?”

Take action: “We wrote letters, got petitions signed,” says Lopez. Residents also testified at hearings held by the Energy Commission in Chula Vista, and at City Council meetings. At first, immigrant parents were hesitant to become involved, says Ramirez, but “many who ordinarily would not come to City Hall protested and had their voices heard.”

The Energy Commission held all the hearings in Chula Vista, says Hunter, which “allowed the community to share their input.”

Success! In June, the Energy Commission voted to deny the power plant expansion. “I’m very proud of my community,” Vera says about the victory, “and I’ve gained more confidence in myself—I said I would never give up and I didn’t.”

For more info: Environmental Health Coalition, 619-474-0220, www.environmentalhealth.org