A Fight for Better Air Quality in CA's Inland Empire Reveals a Need for American Innovation

Last week, we discussed the emerging digital economy and artificial intelligence sector. Fulfilling the long-term potential of such technological advancements will also require innovation in the ways we anticipate, understand and control their potential consequences.  

Take, for example, the revolutionary success of Amazon and other online and same-day delivery retailers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for these services boomed. Even as brick-and-mortar stores reopened, consumers continued to rely on the ease of almost anything in the world shipping right to their doorstep at the click of a button.  

Unanticipated changes in land use patterns and demands on aging energy, water and transportation infrastructure, however, belie that incredible convenience. How should we reconcile such popular improvements to daily life with the side effects experienced by the communities that find themselves directly in the path of a roaring supply chain?  

Our guest this week, Andrea Vidaurre, grew up in California’s Inland Empire. This semi-rural metropolitan area located just an hour inland from the critical Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has been fighting a growing wave of pollution and industrial intrusion. Within a fraction of Andrea’s lifetime, the Inland Empire’s warehouse footprint has grown 90%, starting with a few hundred facilities and today reaching 4,000 (and counting). More than half a million trucks move goods to and from these centers every day, generating 25,000 tons of daily CO₂ emissions and myriad public health risks for the surrounding neighborhoods.  

In this discussion, Andrea describes her transformation from concerned community member to award-winning policy analyst and environmental justice advocate who helped pass two landmark air quality regulations in California. Her work near the far western end of the I-10 is challenging conventional priorities for U.S. innovation and influencing more effective energy transition policy structures. Listen until the end for a postscript detailing the latest efforts in the Senate to limit California’s regulatory powers in relation to air quality.  

Relevant articles and resources:  

Follow the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook  

Read Andrea’s Goldman Environmental Prize and TIME Magazine recognitions 

CARB pulls Advanced Clean Fleets Rule EPA waiver a week after Trump’s election  

Full list of CARB studies on Inland Empire's air quality

“Senate Fight Over Gas-Powered Vehicles Is Also A Filibuster Showdown” (The New York Times, May 21, 2025)