Thomas A. Helme

VIP's Co-founder and Director, Bianca Lopez, will be on DPR's EJAC and Grayson Neighborhood Council Co-founder John X. Mataka will be an alternate!

Fighting against Chemical Recycling and other false solutions to the Plastic Pollution Crisis at the @UN Treaty Negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland! Shout out to Environmental Justice Communities Against Plastics (EJCAP) and @brkfreeplastic

'We are drowning in plastic': Environmentalists, lawmakers urge Newsom not to weaken plastic pollution law mercurynews.com/2025/08/19/we-… #sb54

Great to join with legislators and advocates this morning to call on @CalRecycle to adopt strong regulations to implement #SB54, groundbreaking legislation that forces producers to take responsibility for their packaging and reducing plastic waste. We need to get this right to maximize the benefits to consumers, ratepayers and the state as a whole. @BenAllenCA @AsmGreggHart @isaacgbryan @asmtasha @CALPIRG @oceana @OurOcean @MontereyAq @NSACTION_US @Surfrider @cawrecycles @EnvCalifornia @cleanh2oaction

“At the end of the day, this is a bad law, in my opinion,” said Tom Helme during public comment. “It’s unconstitutional, it’s vague, it’s over broad, it’s almost impossible to enforce, which is why it led to being enforced in what the chief just admitted a discretionary way.”

The event, “Breath In, Speak Out,” hosted by Valley Improvement Projects and the West Modesto Community Collaborative, reviewed strategies for how the community can speak up for itself about poor air quality in an area residents say is severely neglected.

“We organized a peaceful protest to call out ICE’s harm to immigrant communities, and instead of being heard, we were criminalized,” said Bianca Lopez of VIP in a statement. “This is targeted policing, plain and simple.”

THANK YOU to everyone who was able to attend and participate in the CEJC 10th Anniversary Celebration & Conference!! It was an amazing weekend of building solidarity, sharing knowledge, advocating for change, and also just having a good time! We hope to do it all again next year!

Join CEJC and and other Environmental Justice organizations and community members in telling the @CaliforniaDTSC Board of Environmental Safety (BES) that we don't want hazardous waste in landfills next to disadvantaged communities that are already overburdened with pollution!

Trump keeps proving he doesn’t care about poor people and people of color. These communities are the most overburdened by pollution, which directly leads to shorter lifespans. We need more environmental justice, not less! sfchronicle.com/climate/articl…

Stanislaus County will finally have no more toxic ash put into our landfill from the trash incinerator and now the state wants to us take toxic soil from all over the state! 🤬

"By dumping more toxic substances into the landfills, there’s a higher chance of chemicals leaking into groundwater or becoming part of airborne dust blowing into nearby communities." California regulators want to weaken hazardous waste disposal rules latimes.com/environment/st…

Tom Helme, co-founder of... @VIP_Stanislaus and an ACLU NorCal volunteer, said the safest approach is to disclose immigration status only to an attorney. He also referenced a 2022 ACLU report documenting how some...Valley sheriff’s offices continued subtle coordination with ICE

“This is going to hurt farmers,” Vink said. “This takes water out of their summer irrigation portfolio.”

Bianca Lopez and John Mataka [of VIP] were grateful the evaluation committee recommended against options for keeping the plant in operation. “I am very excited that Covanta is leaving,” Lopez said, adding it’s now time to plan for reducing the wastes that go to landfills.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department should have a review board and inspector general, as is now possible in CA under AB 1185!

“I’m in favor of [@StanCounty] looking at a Zero Waste plan that VIP and community members came up with which would keep garbage out of the landfill and out of the air we breathe” John X Mataka

"There is light at the end of this tunnel!" - Bianca Lopez, @VIP_Stanislaus. Next stop: a Zero Waste plan, @StanCounty

No incineration and no waste-to-fuel in Stanislaus County! #zerowaste

Bianca Lopez, co-founder of Valley Improvement Projects, said they have tried to get on the agendas of solid waste committees to present “zero waste” proposals for reducing the throwaways delivered to the landfill.