February was a short month but our workloads did not get the memo. NYC-EJA and our members have achieved a significant amount of transformative work, including passage of the Renewable Rikers Act, and the release of our CAMP-EJ Report - the culmination of 2 years of member air quality monitoring. Additionally, NY Renews released a False Solutions Report, to issue guidance in the ongoing shaping of the CLCPA's implementation. We also held a rally to preserve Local Law 97 in the face of attacks from the governor, participated in panels, and more!

Upcoming events in March include the Climate Works for All Mayoral Candidate Forum on the 18th, and a panel in the NYC-EJA and Pratt GCPE 2021 Lecture Series entitled "The Intersection of Climate Justice and Economic Justice" on March 19th - read more below!

Last month, the NYC Council passed the Renewable Rikers Act, which will transfer jurisdiction of Rikers Island from the Department of Correction (DOC) to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) and mandates a feasibility study on the island’s potential to generate and store renewable energy. Under the Act, DOC will also be prohibited from operating jails on the island after August 31, 2027. The Renewable Rikers vision emerged from conversations about the post-carceral future of the island, led by survivors of Rikers who advocated for its closure, in partnership with environmental justice leaders.

As we collectively work toward achieving the goal of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, we must take this opportunity to build a Renewable Rikers that will be a hub for large-scale renewable energy and battery storage technology that can move us toward shutting down fossil fuel peaker power plants that pollute environmental justice communities. Renewable Rikers will be a model for a Just Transition in New York City.

Dariella Rodriguez, Director of Community Development of THE POINT CDC said "Hunts Point and the South Bronx community have for too long been negatively impacted by the criminal justice system and environmental injustices. We want to see community-led solutions and transformative changes to our dirty energy systems. The vision for a Renewable Rikers is a major step in establishing renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure that will allow for more equitable, resilient, and community-driven development. Renewable Rikers creates a path to move our communities towards a Just Transition that enables sustainability and resiliency."

In February, NYC-EJA released our 2021 CAMP-EJ report. CAMP-EJ is a community-based participatory research project that empowers youth and community members to address air quality issues in environmental justice communities. The CAMP-EJ report represents the efforts of our members and their communities to capture and understand their own pollution exposures while putting forth solutions to address long-standing air quality issues precipitated by policies that place polluting infrastructures and facilities in their neighborhoods.

Masoom Moitra, Director of the Green Light District at El Puente said, "Given the glaring disproportionate and profoundly devastating consequences our communities continue to endure in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that the path to sustainable equity is through powerful community-led research, strategies, and comprehensive mitigation plans such as the one set forth in our Nuestro Aire/ Our Air campaign. It is also imperative that the City and State support community capacity to implement these plans and make policy changes. As a founding member of NYC-EJA, El Puente now more than ever stands firm in its commitment to the movement for environmental justice and the self determination of our communities."

Danny Peralta, Executive Managing Director of THE POINT CDC - another member organization that contributed to the report's data collection - said "NYC-EJA's CAMP-EJ Report confirms two things for THE POINT CDC: The first is that the data continues to show that our community is disproportionately affected by the effects of industry and diesel emissions and that the numbers we collected are higher than official data collected by the government. We also know that we need to continue to employ our residents and youth as stewards as a means of ensuring that any solutions that can be offered to offset these staggering numbers, come directly from the most affected residents in the area. By meeting regularly to discuss the collected data, our residents have become better prepared to live through the effects of climate change, seeking sustainable solutions for the health of their families."

Report co-author and Executive Director of HabitatMap Michael Heimbinder said, "Air pollution levels in New York City can vary dramatically minute to minute and block to block, however, this variation isn't captured by the New York State air monitoring network, which includes just over a dozen stations in the City. NYC-EJA and their community-based member organizations filled this data gap by measuring pollution levels with wearable sensors, revealing that hyperlocal air pollution levels in predominantly Black and Brown communities could be up to twenty times higher than expected". 

Read the report here!

In February, NY Renews released a report entitled “False Solutions - Gas & Trash: How the Fossil Fuel Industry is Holding Back a Just Transition.” False solutions have been raised before the Climate Action Council and the legislature in these bodies’ consideration of New York’s energy future. These false solutions are industry-supported techno “fixes” that promise to reduce emissions, despite their questionable legality under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Meanwhile, research shows they often do the opposite, and often don’t reduce pollution burdens on environmental justice communities. 

The report covers five “false solutions”: Waste-to-Energy, Renewable Natural Gas, Biofuels, Biomass, and Green Hydrogen. It outlines several key problems with these alternative fuel sources. First, they are often carbon-intensive: some of them literally add more greenhouse gases than would be reduced by switching from fossil fuels. Second, many of them must be combusted to produce energy, leading to more local pollution, which is concentrated in environmental justice communities. Third, some of these fuels are not economically viable to replace even marginal amounts of our energy footprint. Fourth, reliance on bioenergy sources diverts land use from food to energy, depletes the earth’s ability to reduce carbon, and contributes to water pollution. Finally, some of these alternative fuel sources require intensive water use to produce, and could contribute to severe water stress. 

The full report can be found at http://bit.ly/falsesolutions.

On February 25th, NYC-EJA's Energy Planner Carlos Garcia joined City and State legislators, along with climate advocacy groups, to hold a Zoom rally to push back against the Governor’s budget proposal Part R of the TED bill that would undermine Local Law 97 in NYC. Governor Cuomo has proposed key changes to Local Law 97, a key component of the Green New Deal for New York City, that would continue to allow buildings to emit large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. The law requires buildings, the largest source of climate pollution, to reduce their emissions through retrofits, which will create thousands of green jobs for New York City residents.

If you or others were unable to attend the forum, you can watch and share the video here.

On February 24th, NYC-EJA’s Energy Planner participated in an online discussion panel titled A Just Transition to 100% Renewable New York. The focus of the discussion centered around how New York will transition to 100% renewables in a way that supports our communities, workers, and the neighborhoods that are most at risk of dirty and dangerous energy exposure. Carlos spoke about NYC-EJA's numerous energy projects and campaigns, and how NYC-EJA and our allies are leading the way in our Just Transition. 

New York City will be holding local primaries this June, and the following fall we’ll be going to the polls to select our next Mayor.

Before we head to the polls, we must learn about how these candidates will represent the needs of our communities.

Join Climate Works for All for the Climate, Jobs and Justice digital Mayoral forum on Thursday, March 18th from 5pm to 7:30pm. Register here.

The next talk in the Pratt GCPE & NYC-EJA Spring 2021 Lecture Series is entitled, "The Intersection of Climate Justice and Economic Justice," and will include our Associate Director Annel Hernandez.

It will be held on Friday, March 19th, at 5:30PM and you can register for this talk here.