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In the last month of a harrowing year, NYC-EJA took part in a victory in our campaign opposing the Transportation and Climate Initiative, coordinated a press conference demanding that two successful city composting operations be allowed to stay in their homes permanently, and participated in public conversations and events. Read more below!
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EJ Advocates Deter Ill-Conceived "Cap-and-Trade" Transportation & Climate Initiative
After two years of hard-fought criticism,
NYC-EJA and our fellow
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| | Source: NY Times |
Northeast Climate Justice Alliance members successfully slowed the majority of NE states from signing on to the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) Memo of Understanding. TCI is a proposed regional cap-trade-and-invest, market-based ruse to generate revenue from gasoline and diesel suppliers, while promising unguaranteed and unmandated greenhouse gas emissions reductions from the transportation sector. We have sounded the alarm on TCI since 2018, and we continue to welcome genuine allyship from environmental advocates who wish to stand with frontline communities leading with equitable solutions to the climate crisis - not market-based, incremental or speculative schemes.
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| | Policy & Communications Organizer Dr. Tok Oyewole Testifying at 12/18 Oversight Hearing |
#SaveOurCompost:
Press Conference & NYC Council Hearing about Composting on Parks-Managed Land
On December 15th, the Save Our Compost Coalition hosted a press conference uplifting the call to save two compost sites threatened with eviction: the Lower East Side Ecology Center's site at East River Park and Big Reuse's Queensboro Bridge site. The press conference - emceed by Chair of the City Council Committee of Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, Antonio Reynoso - featured advocates who spoke in front of pro-composting banner art created by community members, and numerous elected official supporters, quoted in our press release, including mayoral candidate and former DSNY Commissioner Kathryn Garcia.
The press conference preceded a joint Sanitation and Parks Oversight hearing on December 18th. The hearing featured hours of passionate testimony from the public and elected officials - the latter of whom were allowed to direct questions to Parks staff about their decision-making under oath, but unfortunately, there were few direct responses or commitments. The overall message coming through from the public and elected officials was that these sites are performing heroic work in our City, and they should be allowed to remain and given permanent homes; that Parks would be making an ill-reasoned decision without true legal basis if it moved forward with a plan to push Big Reuse, the Lower East Side Ecology Center, and other composting projects off of their home bases.
You can read NYC-EJA's testimony here.
- Tok Oyewole
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Fighting False Solutions at the Deep Decarbonization Workshop
On December 8th, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hosted a technical workshop to discuss decarbonization technologies. Our Associate Director, Annel Hernandez joined the workshop to highlight major concerns with hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies that will not result in the transformative energy system changes that New Yorkers fought for in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). "Green" hydrogen is being used by the fossil fuel industry as a promotional tool to keep natural gas infrastructure on line - in reality, the mixing of hydrogen fuels and natural gas may result in increased localized emissions. CCUS technologies assume the continued extraction and consumption of fossil fuels and depend on potentially dangerous practices. NYC-EJA views these technologies as being at odds with transitioning away from fossil fuels and catalyzing renewable energy. Learn more from our allies Clean Energy Group in their recent article Hydrogen Hype in the Air.
- Annel Hernandez
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El Puente's Green Table Talk
On December 3rd, El Puente hosted their first Green Table Talk for a virtual conversation on how climate change and other environmental issues show up in their neighborhoods of Southside Williamsburg and Bushwick, and how the community can take action. NYC-EJA joined the El Puente team and other community allies to discuss issues around air quality, lack of healthy open spaces, extreme heat, and COVID-19. Learn more about El Puente's Our Air! /¡Nuestro Aire! grassroots campaign here. - Annel Hernandez |
Transforming Transit Forum
On December 1st, NYC-EJA Transportation Planner Renae Reynolds co-moderated a conversation live on Zoom with the Riders Alliance about the future of public transportation, following the MTA's announcement to reduce service by 40% and lay off nearly 10,000 frontline workers. Renae spoke with U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Daniel Cassella (President of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 726), Andrew Rigie (NYC Hospitality Alliance Executive Director), and Senator Jessica Ramos (Chair of the Committee on Labor), about the paths forward to a healthier and more equitable city. The panelists were in agreement that less transit would cause more harm to the social, environmental, and economic health of our city. They each advanced the call for a $32 billion stimulus package to support mass transit.
- Renae Reynolds |
Sincerely,
Eddie Bautista
Executive Director
New York City Environmental Justice Alliance
Compiling/Drafting/Editing Credit - Tok Oyewole
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