March was unusually busy for NYC-EJA, our members and allies. The Spring Equinox brought us new organizational community members, the first-ever Disadvantaged Communities criteria for NYS, a mass Albany mobilization fighting for climate justice in next year’s budget and much more. Read on, as we catch our collective breath... |
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NYC-EJA Welcomes New Organizational Members! |
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Staten Island Urban Center is a grassroots "community development through community involvement" organization, lifting the voices of Staten Island's most marginalized and vulnerable communities experiencing social, environmental and criminal injustices. Their community-centered work is grounded in the pursuit of cultural equity, thrivability, self-determination and independence. They help community members of all ages develop as activists, engaging them in community-driven solutions, local organizing, youth leadership development and art-making grounded in social justice.
"We are so happy to be part of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance where we will be able to find strength and stand side by side with fellow activists who also believe in the power of people working together," said Kelly Vilar, Executive Director of Staten Island Urban Center.
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The Brotherhood Sister Sol (Bro Sis) is a social justice youth development organization in Harlem. For more than 25 years, The Brotherhood SisterSol has been at the forefront of social justice-educating, organizing, and training to challenge inequality and create opportunity for all. With a focus on Black and Latinx youth, Bro Sis is where young people claim the power of their history, identity, and community to build the future they want to see.
We proudly welcome Staten Island Urban Center and The Brotherhood Sister Sol to the NYC-EJA family. With 13 community-based organizational members, NYC-EJA is now a 5-Borough coalition again for the first time since the 90’s!
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NY Renews Mass Mobilization in Albany |
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NYC-EJA staff joined by members from El Puente, The Point, Staten Island Urban Center and Brotherhood Sister Sol. |
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Around 500 people attended the mass mobilization, including NYC-EJA members, to secure real climate investments in the 2023-2024 New York State Budget. We caught the State Assembly in session and made our voices loud and clear to both Governor Hochul and the legislature. This is our last big push to secure real climate investments in the 2023-2024 New York state budget.
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Budget Attack on NYS landmark Climate Law (CLCPA) |
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The proposed bill, S6030/A6039 (Parker/Barrett), would gut New York's nation-leading efforts to fight climate change by changing the way NYS accounts for methane emissions. The bill would also allow highly polluting bioenergy to qualify for renewable energy subsidies in New York. You can read our Memo of Opposition and help send a letter to lawmakers to say NO to this industry-led attack on environmental justice communities.
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NYS Climate Justice Working Group Finalizes Disadvantaged Communities Criteria |
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On March 27th, NYS realized another milestone under our landmark state climate law the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (CLCPA), when NYS’s Climate Justice Working Group finally voted on NYS’s first ever Disadvantaged Communities - or DAC - criteria. (NYC-EJA Executive Director Eddie Bautista and NYC-EJA member and UPROSE Executive Director Elizabeth Yeampierre both serve on the Working Group.). The DAC criteria will guide the equitable implementation of CLCPA provisions that prioritize disadvantaged communities by requiring reductions in air pollution and climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions and targeting clean energy and energy efficiency investments.
After 2+ years, 11+ public hearings and 3000+ comments, the Working Group approved the most progressive framework in the country to steer billions of dollars to the state's most "disadvantaged communities" (I.e., the communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change). Based on 45 indicators capturing racial, class, public health, disparate environmental burdens and climate vulnerabilities indicia, these transformational criteria (mandated by the nation-leading CLCPA, which we spent years fighting to pass) are designed to steer 35-40% of the entire state’s clean energy funding to these DAC communities. Our quest for a Just Transition is only beginning – the list of disadvantaged communities, along with preliminary maps, can be found on the NYS Climate Act website.”
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Open Letter to NYC Department of Buildings on Carbon Capture Technology in Buildings |
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On March 20th, the Climate Works for All Coalition sent a letter to the New York City Department of Buildings to stop the permitting of carbon capture technology in buildings, given our concerns with LL97 compliance and building emissions reductions; safety and health; threats to green workforce development; and increased truck traffic. We’re seeing growing interest and adoption of this technology in NYC evidenced by permits and news articles, most recently in the NY Times, raising the potential of carbon capture technologies as a compliance pathway for LL97. We asked Councilmembers and other City electeds to sign onto the letter and share their concerns about the deployment of carbon capture technology in communities across the city.
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Webinar on New York's Cap & Invest Program |
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On March 23rd, NY Renews kicked off a webinar series with the Cap and Invest Webinar co-hosted with NYC-EJA.
Governor Hochul’s recent executive budget proposal includes a cap and invest model to fund climate programs. As seen in other states, such as California, market-based solutions have been shown to only widen the disparity gap and increase harm potential for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and working communities. In this webinar, our panelists discussed the critical lessons learned from California’s cap and trade program and the political opportunities and challenges here in New York.
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USACE HATS Comments Submitted |
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In partnership with our Resilient Coastal Communities Partners at the Columbia Climate School, NYC-EJA submitted our public comments for the Harbor and Tributaries Study Tentatively Selected Plan to the US Army Corp of Engineers earlier this month, in advance of the March 31 deadline. We provided an in-depth analysis of the plan in relation to environmental justice, calling for better protections to EJ communities with mitigation features that align with what communities want for themselves. You can read our comments here.
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Cleaner Vehicles Coming to Road Near You |
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In late February and early March, NYC-EJA and ElectrifyNY coalition members, submitted verbal testimonies to urge the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to move forward to adopt the Heavy-Duty Omnibus (HDO) rule and to make the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) rule permanent. The HDO regulation requires medium- and heavy-duty engine manufacturers to sell new, cleaner vehicles that meet more stringent NOx and particulate matter emissions standards. The ACC II rule requires zero-emission vehicle sales to be 100 percent of all new car sales by 2035 and reduce pollution from gas vehicles sold in the interim. The Final Scoping Plan notes that an aggressive and implementable mix of policies will be required to accelerate GHG emission reductions to the level needed by 2030. These policies will be instrumental in reducing tailpipe emissions and achieving the State’s targets.
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