I captured this image during a grass roots community protest against a highly polluting power plant in San Francisco. The Evans Ave. PG&E plant dated back to the twenties and was considered by the community to be partially responsible for the abnormally high cases of asthma in the area. Organized protests by environmental groups and community members were a regular occurrence in front of the plant.

The Evans Ave. PG&E power plant was located in the Bayview section of San Francisco. The Bayview is an environmentally distressed neighborhood, home to many polluters and the former Hunter's Point Naval Station now a federal Superfund toxic waste site. Community activists had been trying to get the Evans Ave. plant closed since the mid 90's, without success.

This photograph was taken in the spring of 2006 and was published in the San Francisco Sentinel. The demonstration took place in the middle of a terrible rainstorm. However, it was impressive to see how many people came out despite the inclement weather. Less than a year later the plant was closed.

Photography can make a difference, a big difference in environmental issues and causes. Visual images can inform and move people to action. Photographers are becoming increasingly involved in documenting environmental movements and protests. Documenting global warming through photography has become an especially potent reminder of critical problems we face on this planet. I myself am proud to have been involved, in a small way, in working to publicize community and environmental action in my city.