May was a month of transitions and working toward just transitions amongst NYC-EJA and our allies, including testifying on the NYS Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), a presentation at the Sanitation Foundation's first Zero Waste Academy, and more.

Read more below!

Earlier this year, 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. 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. Tell Mayor de Blasio that the time is now to begin transferring available land and property from DOC to DCAS! It is time for Renewable Rikers to become a model for a Just Transition in New York City. Join us and sign on to this letter: Tell Mayor De Blasio you Expect to See Portions of Rikers Transferred from DOC to DCAS on July 1 as the First Phase of Renewable Rikers!

On May 13th, the New York State Assembly held an oversight hearing to examine the implementation of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), including the steps being taken by the Climate Action Council to develop the scoping plan, the Climate Justice Working Group’s development of disadvantaged community definitions, and the progress of the State in achieving renewable energy goals.

Our Energy Planner, Carlos Garcia testified to highlight that the Energy Intensive and Trade Exposed Industries (EITE) panel was not ambitious nor fully considerate of environmental justice priorities in its exploration of compliance mechanisms for EITE industries under the CLCPA. Instead of focusing on how the sector can use current technological advancements to decarbonize their processes, they focused on false alternatives, such as carbon capture and sequestration, to allow companies to continue business as usual. He also highlighted an alarming trend in the push from the panel to promote green hydrogen fuel as a source of combustion, saying "apart from the incredibly high fuel costs to produce green hydrogen, the immense NOX emissions released from hydrogen combustion creates another issue of pollution burden from manufacturing in the city's most climate-vulnerable communities and its environmental justice communities."

Our Policy & Communications Organizer Dr. Tok Oyewole also testified at the state hearing to underscore that the recommendations put forth by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on behalf of the Waste Advisory Panel were largely incremental, focusing on solutions at lower ends of the waste hierarchy, as opposed to reduction and reuse. Tok highlighted that while the DEC accepted a portion of the recommendations put forth by their subcommittee, Local Scale Diversion and Climate Justice, they altered and omitted many of the recommendations, and promoted false solutions like incineration and proliferation of biofuels. Read her full testimony here.

On Saturday, May 8th, our Policy & Communications Organizer Dr. Tok Michelle Oyewole spoke as part of the Sanitation Foundation's inaugural Zero Waste Academy, to outline local waste-related policy and organizing victories for environmental justice communities, as well as the steps the City can still take in advancing environmental and climate justice solutions in our solid waste system. This included an emphasis on rethinking and redesigning NYC’s waste system from a more local and circular perspective that advances geographic and economic equity, waste reduction and reuse, and a spotlight on disparate facilities and waste handling locations to which we are interconnected.