Clean Air and Restoring the Salton Sea

As an emergency room nurse practitioner with a Doctorate, Ida has seen firsthand how pollution and toxic dust from the Salton Sea are harming local families and contributing to rising childhood asthma rates. She'll fight for long-term funding to restore the Salton Sea, protect our air quality, and keep our children and families healthy.

Between dust from the Salton Sea and pollution from trucks, warehouses, and freight corridors, air quality in the region is among the worst in the nation, and low-income families and children bear the greatest burden. Ida supports stronger regulations to protect residents from toxins released by the shrinking sea, stricter emissions controls and monitoring for major pollution sources, and buffer zones between industrial operations and neighborhoods. As a healthcare provider, she knows that preventing illness is better for families than treating it after the damage is done.

Extreme heat and drought are also public health issues in our desert communities. Ida supports investments in heat protection, climate-resilient infrastructure, and clean energy projects that create good union jobs. Rural and underserved areas have too often been left out when the state decides where to invest, and she will make sure the region receives its fair share of resources for restoration and clean air.