mun2 to ‘Toxic City: This Is Where I Live’.

As part of NBC Universal’s “Green Is Universal” week, mun2, the preeminent voice for Latino youth in America, presents “Viva Green,” a week of eco-friendly programming, interactive digital extensions, and a compelling new mun2 news special, Toxic City: This is Where I Live. “Green is Universal,” an ongoing NBC Universal companywide initiative to help raise environmental awareness, will broadcast a special week of green-themed programming from November 4 through November 10.

“Through our news specials, we’ve made a commitment to focus on issues that are important and relevant to our audience,” said Alex Pels, general manager, mun2. “As the fastest-growing segment of the Hispanic population, Latino youth have a great influence on the environmental sustainability of their communities. This latest news special offers a first-hand look at the urgency of some of today’s environmental issues in Latino communities around the country and what some amazing teens are doing to help improve their conditions.”

In maintaining its commitment to creating authentic programming specifically geared for young Latinos, mun2 will incorporate eco-friendly strategies for green living in its original programs including One Nation Under Hip-Hop and The mun2 Shift. In addition, mun2’s hit countdown show, 18 and Over, will rally viewers to submit their best environmental practices for the Top 5 Challenge via text or video to show how they’re making a difference in their home or community. mun2’s signature show, VIVO will also feature special guest and environmental activist Ryan Perez, the main subject of mun2’s upcoming news special, “Toxic City: This is Where I Live.” Finally, the network will air originally created green-themed promos throughout the week with the network’s on-air talent, Crash, Yasmin Deliz, Roser, Renato Lopez and Frankie Needles.

As the fourth installment in mun2’s Peabody award-winning news specials, Toxic City: This is Where I Live, profiles Latino youth in highly polluted communities who are taking the lead for their families in causes of environmental justice. Shot in key markets across the country including Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta, New York and El Paso as well as Juarez, Mexico, the special report explores how a disproportionate number of U.S. Latinos live and work among industrial waste, noxious pollution, and contaminated communities and how Latino youth are mobilizing to address these environmental issues.

Exploring both sides of the debate, Toxic City investigates the perspectives of those addressing environmental health concerns and those working toward economic development. Teens and local residents lead viewers through community struggles, and the effects of daily exposure to environmental hazards of air pollution, water supply contamination, pesticides, and other health risks. Available on-air and online, the special features interviews and commentary with environmental experts including Erin Brockovich and directors at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The documentary will be available for viewing at mun2’s website, holamun2.com. The site will feature exclusive and bonus footage of the news special and provide a forum for visitors to discuss the topics presented in Toxic City and share their stories and opinions regarding today’s environmental issues. Additionally, as mun2’s first broadcast on Cable in the Classroom, the U.S. cable industry’s education foundation, the documentary will become available in homes and schools as a resource for learning and inspiring discussion.

On-air and online highlights from the special include:

— In Los Angeles, 18-year-old environmental activist Ryan Perez and other youth from Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), organize against the development of the Vernon Power Plant Project proposed by the City of Vernon. Environmental activist Erin Brockovich comments on industry and its effects on communities.

— In New York, Elizabeth Yeampierre, the executive director of UPROSE (United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park), gives a tour of the distressed community and shares the organization’s efforts to facilitate the regeneration of the environment and empower youth in the community to improve quality of life for their families.

— In El Paso, on-site at the currently stagnant ASARCO copper smelter, the families and workers of ASARCO celebrate the jobs that will come from redevelopment. Meanwhile, faces against ASARCO, El Paso Mayor John Cook, Sierra Club representative Mariana Chew, residents of Juarez, Mexico and the students of UT El Paso voice their opposition to the smelter.

— In Seattle, 18-year-old Maria Torres Lucatero, youth coordinator for the Urban Environmental Justice Youth Core of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition (DRCC), discusses the organization’s engagement efforts against language and cultural barriers within the community.

— In Atlanta, author and leading authority in environmental justice, Dr. Robert Bullard, Ware Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center of Clark Atlanta University, and the experts from the Centers for Centers for Disease Control, Christopher De Rosa, Ph.D. Director, Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, ATSDR, and Mike McGeehin, Ph.D. Director, Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, CDC, further interpret the impact of environmental hazards on community health.