PICTURED ABOVE: Angela, GreenLatinos community member.
Globeville is a Denver neighborhood rich in history and strong in community, but for generations, it has been overshadowed by the nearby refineries and highways. Angela, a local resident, grew up surrounded by toxic air, high asthma rates, and the constant threat of displacement that these industrial encroachments and infrastructure projects brought to her community.
When Angela learned about the I-70 highway expansion project in 2017, she was determined to fight back. Tired and frustrated by decision-makers moving projects forward without local community input, she sought out others who shared her concerns. That’s when she discovered GreenLatinos.
GreenLatinos is a national network of Latino environmental and climate justice leaders dedicated to advocating for systemic change in environmental and climate issues. The organization is a community of justice champions working on various fronts, including education, research, and convening events, to help local communities access the resources they need to achieve political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.
In Colorado, GreenLatinos established its first state chapter. With Colorado being home to significant natural resources and a large Latino population, it became a focal point for the organization’s efforts to drive systemic change at the state level.
“We were bringing a lot of people together, having them advocate to the [Environmental Protection Agency] and the Department of Energy. But our communities were saying, ‘Hey, we need to focus on what’s going on in our states,’ especially when Washington, D.C., is gridlocked,” recalls Ean Tafoya, Colorado state director of GreenLatinos.
Tafoya grew up in the Cole neighborhood, next to Globeville. As he learned more about the environmental injustices affecting his community, he became increasingly involved in advocacy efforts, joined GreenLatinos as a member, and eventually launched the Colorado state program in 2019.
This local presence has allowed GreenLatinos to engage more directly with communities like Globeville, where environmental injustices are particularly acute. One of those efforts included a lawsuit filed under the Clean Air Act against Suncor Energy, a refinery in Commerce City recently fined for pollution violations. Angela, drawing on her knowledge and lived experience, signed as a declarant in the lawsuit.
“We’ve identified more than 9,000 violations that have taken place in the last few years,” says Tafoya, adding, “Right now, these companies all just have a permit to pollute. It’s just pay to pollute pay, pay to pollute, and we said, ‘enough of that.’” As local community members, they’re ensuring the company is held accountable for its actions.
“Doing this work can be really frustrating, and also heartbreaking when you hear about families whose child can’t go to school because they can’t breathe,” says Angela. “Knowing that there are other people in that same struggle and that GreenLatinos brings those people together to talk about those things, makes you realize that you are not alone in what it is that you’re doing in your community,” she adds.
GreenLatinos continues to accelerate the fight at the local level, educating community members and listening to their concerns. It’s filling the gap where community voice is so often absent. “Ean understands our community. Ean has walked our streets, our sidewalks, or our lack of sidewalks,” says Angela. “He has engaged with the community. He has talked with residents, listened to residents, and advocated for us on many different levels within the city and the state.”
Often, residents may not know about the changes happening in their community because they’re working two or three jobs, dealing with health issues, and facing economic challenges. GreenLatinos works to help ensure these voices aren’t absent by building relationships, going door to door, hosting community events, and offering support for community members to give feedback.
“When you say, ‘we deserve better and we want better,’ that is what happens because people are organizing and coming together. And you know, that’s what being a community is about at GreenLatinos.”
- Angela, GreenLatinos community member
Beyond the organization’s work in Commerce City and Globeville, GreenLatinos has championed numerous other environmental justice projects.
It has made significant strides in upgrading protections along the most polluted segments of the Platte River. It has helped lead the coalition to pass and implement the Colorado Environmental Justice Act. It has engaged in rulemaking processes on issues like geothermal energy, representing community interests that would have been otherwise ignored. It successfully fought against the I-25 highway expansion in Sun Valley and is currently opposing the I-270 expansion north of Globeville to prevent the community from experiencing the same negative impacts caused by the I-70 expansion in Globeville.
Through these efforts, GreenLatinos is not just fighting for environmental justice—it’s reshaping the landscape of advocacy and community empowerment. “It used to be that they would just write us off. They’d have a meeting, put no effort into it, listen for an hour, not even bring a translator, and then go home and do what they were going to do anyway. I just don’t think that’s true anymore,” says Tafoya. GreenLatinos efforts have made it clear that the voices of the community can no longer be ignored.
“It’s scary when you have to talk to your councilperson, governor, mayor, or any of those people or agencies. Sometimes people in those positions like to use that power to intimidate you,” Angela notes. “But you learn that you don’t have to be intimidated. You’re the one that intimidates them because you are working with other people to make that system change.”
The work GreenLatinos is doing is transforming communities across Colorado and the country.
With the support of The Denver Foundation and its donors, GreenLatinos can continue to grow its interconnected network, and increase its capacity to ensure that communities aren’t left behind in the fight for environmental justice. The Denver Foundation has been supporting GreenLatinos through the Community Grants Program—the foundation’s signature funding strategy supported by our permanent endowment —and independent fundholders.
Photo courtesy: Armando Geneyro