Volume 14, Issue 5
MAY NEWSLETTER
Dear ,
May has been as busy a time as ever for NYC-EJA and our members, both at the State and City levels. Scroll down to learn more about some of our environmental justice campaigns & Spring progress!
NY Renews Distributed Rallies for the CJJP
Photographs by Ken Schules.
On May 25th, as part of a series of 8 distributed rallies across the state, NY Renews led a rally in NYC to call for the passage of key pieces of legislation that are part of the Climate Jobs and Justice Package (CJJP). These mobilizations come on the heels of 85 NY Renews grassroots lobby visits, and hundreds of phone calls and emails over the past few weeks. In the NYS budget, we passed key components of the CJJP and earlier in the week, two of our key bills– the NY HEAT Act and the Climate and Community Protection Fund (CCPF) – moved through Senate committees. Now, it’s time for us to bring the remaining bills in the CJJP across the finish line: the Just Energy Transition Act (JETA), NY HEAT Act, and the Climate and Community Protection Fund!
Passage of the NYS Budget
After a month-long delay and efforts to undermine NYS's landmark Climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), the 2023 New York State budget was finally passed this month and included some big wins for NY’s climate and environmental justice movement! Although we have a lot more work to do and more bills to pass this session, we made progress in the budget with the partial inclusion of key components of the Build Public Renewables Act and the All-Electric Buildings Act, the nation’s first statewide gas ban in new buildings. However, the Assembly refused to act on NYC-EJA’s and NY Renews’ top budget request: to provide the necessary guardrails and protections for disproportionately burdened Black and Brown communities faced with Governor Hochul’s vague “cap, trade and invest” proposal to fund parts of the CLCPA by allowing some pollution to continue unabated. As session continues and the state reveals its proposed cap, trade and invest program, NYC-EJA will continue to fight to ensure any cap-trade-and-invest program has the appropriate caps and safeguards and doesn’t add to the burdens our communities already live with.
EPA Announces New Rules for Power Plants
On May 11th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced proposed rules to reduce emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants. NYC-EJA, the PEAK Coalition, and Climate Justice Alliance are gravely concerned about the rule’s reliance on carbon capture and storage or hydrogen combustion as compliance pathways to reduce emissions. We urge the EPA to propose proven options to reduce emissions, such as battery storage development, and urge the agency to develop stricter standards for more polluting peaker power plants. Find more information on the rule summary and history here, and additional information including how to submit a comment before the July 24th deadline here.
Just Energy Transition Act Press Conference
On May 17th, NYC-EJA’s Policy Organizer Celeste Perez and Energy Planner Daniel Chu went up to Albany alongside public housing residents, clean energy developers, and other stakeholders to engage with legislators on the Just Energy Transition Act (JETA). Celeste and others spoke at the press conference on the importance of passing JETA. The bill would produce and implement a roadmap to transition some of the largest polluting power plants in New York by 2030, a necessary step to prioritize emissions reductions in environmental justice communities as the energy transition gets underway.
'We Are a Waterfront' Exhibit on Governor's Island
One of our newest members State Island Urban Center is hosting an exhibition titled “We Are A Waterfront” from May 5 - through Oct 31, 2023 on Governor’s Island. The exhibit examines the struggle, potential, creativity and beauty of waterfront neighborhoods when community voices are at the center, fighting for environmental and social justice. Get to know about climate & environmental justice as told by a frontline community and learn more about NYC-EJA's Waterfront Justice Project, displayed at the exhibit. Find more information about the exhibit and when you can visit here!
NYC-EJA IN THE NEWS







Be sure to check for more exciting news from NYC-EJA about our ongoing work, on our website and in future newsletters! And if you like what you read, please consider making a tax-exempt donation to support our work.
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