Environmental groups are launching a pro-Clean Power Plan campaign aimed at Latinos, a group activists say are disproportionately affected by climate change.

Conservation Colorado has created a Latino organizing program called “Protégete: Our Air, Our Health.” Protégete, which translates to “protect yourself,” encourages greater Latino involvement in Colorado’s role complying with the federal plan.

The plan, which was released by the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month, aims to significantly reduce climate-harming carbon dioxide emissions produced by U.S. power plants. Carbon released from power plants, particularly coal-burning plants, contributes greatly to climate change.

Each state has its own carbon reduction goal that must be met by 2030. Colorado must reduce its 2012 carbon emissions by 40 percent.

The Spanish-language media campaign urges Gov. John Hickenlooper and other governors to invite Latinos to the table while implementing plans that invest in clean energy and energy efficiency.

“We want to make sure governors include diverse communities as part of their decision-making process and creation of the state plans,” said Protégete program manager Dulce Saenz of Conservation Colorado.

The campaign is an effort to energize Latinos into action on an issue that has significant impacts on the nation’s largest minority group, Saenz said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health reports that Latino children are 40 percent more likely to die from asthma than white children. Almost half of Latinos live in the 25 most polluted cities in the country and 39 percent of Latinos live within 30 miles of a power plant, Saenz said.

Climate change can have a big impact on Latino workers’ pocketbooks, as well, activists say.

Jennifer Allen, national director of the League of Conservation Voters’ Latino Outreach Program, said the vast majority of agricultural laborers and a large percentage of construction workers are Latino. An EPA study estimates that by the year 2100 billions of labor hours and billions of dollars in wages will be lost as a result of extreme climate temperatures.

“Whether we are at home or on the job, our communities are hit hard by the impacts of extreme climate changes,” Allen said.

But Allen is also aware of the arguments from those who are against the Clean Power Plan, especially those representing coal-reliant communities who fear that power plants will shutter as a result of the plan.

That could lead to the loss of blue-collar jobs, many of which are held by Latinos, opponents say.

“It’s always hard when confronted with the threat of lost jobs and specific jobs,” said Allen, whose own family includes coal miners who suffered from lung disease. “But we want to invest in jobs that are much more sustainable in the long run.”

“We want to see good jobs that are well paying, that are future-oriented, stable jobs that are going to be healthy for workers and the community as a whole.”

The ad campaign, which is primarily running in Spanish media outlets, targets various demographics within Latino households. A social media campaign aims to reach bilingual millenials, while other ads target mothers.

Allen said Latino families can relate to the importance of conservation because they’ve lived that way for generations.

“You can open up your refrigerator at your parents’ house and it will be filled with margarine containers or yogurt containers — none of which contain margarine or yogurt — and they’re packed with salsa or salad or beans or whatever,” she said.

“It’s this thing where we grew up with our parents telling us to ‘Turn off the damn light!’ Or, ‘Why would you throw that away? It’s perfectly good.’ Culturally and traditionally, we have been brought up to really value to conserve.”

— Twitter: @VicVela1