News

Learning About and Acting On Challenging the Climate Crisis

NY Times:

“A Frankenstein material” is teeming with — and ultimately made by — photosynthetic microbes. And it can reproduce.”

NYTimes:

“A six-mile-long barrier would help protect the city from floodwaters during fierce storms like Sandy, but critics say rising seas make the option inadequate.”

 

Council Member Carlina Rivera’s Office: Learn About Compost and Zero Waste:

email – district2@council.nyc.gov

 

Read MoreLearning About and Acting On Challenging the Climate Crisis
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From: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND LABOR COALITION

Climate Crisis Actions:

CALLS FOR $1 BILLION ANNUAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY FUND, $3 BILLION GREEN BONDS PROGRAM

 

 

January 15th 2020

Dear Mayor de Blasio:

We are in the midst of a climate crisis and immediate action is necessary to protect the future of our City and our planet. As you noted while announcing the passage Local Law 97 “There’s no time to waste. We’re taking action now, before it’s too late.” The City budget is an opportunity to fund and move priority work, it is a moral statement, and it can be a moment to define your legacy and the impact you have and will continue to have on New York City and our world. However, without a true monetary commitment to implementing the Dirty Building’s Law, and ensuring all New Yorkers benefit from it, this opportunity will be lost. The Climate Works for All coalition and our allies urge the City to prioritize our most vulnerable communities and invest in our collective future by providing a significant budgetary pledge for the implementation of Local Law 97, as well as renewable energy generation and transmission.  These investments must be grounded in a commitment to Environmental Justice and a Just Transition. The time is now for New York City to take bolder action by funding the fight against Climate Change via a strong commitment in the budget.

A budget commitment must include the following components: 

Invest at least $1 billion per year for the next 10 years to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions in rent-regulated, low-income, public, and affordable housing to move these buildings to mirror the emissions reductions set by Local Law 97.

This funding will cover energy efficiency upgrades beyond the measures mandated in LL97 in targeted rent-regulated and affordable housing developments in each City Council District across all five boroughs.These retrofits would improve the living conditions and reduce the energy burden for New Yorkers who otherwise would not see these investments in their homes and neighborhoods while ensuring that rental increases are avoided.

Under this program, the City will convene community members within each City Council District to prioritize areas for retrofit investment using a set of criteria (e.g.,income, air quality, energy burdened, climate vulnerability, and other related factors). Environmental Justice communities and historically disinvested Council Districts should be prioritized within funding distribution. The program will allocate specific sums according to needs and historic disinvestment following the principles of equity. The City should work with existing models of  pre-apprenticeship and job training programs for community members to be brought into the economic development generated through the retrofit projects. The program must also create 100% quality, union jobs with high labor standards attached in the energy efficiency sector each year.

Create a $3 billion “green” bond program to rapidly create and expand local renewable energy generation and transmission projects in New York City. 

The funds generated through this city bond program will be directed toward the development of city and community projects that can generate at least 1,000MW of clean, renewable energy within the next 5 years in Zone J. The funds will also go towards transforming and expanding New York City’s dilapidated and inefficient energy grid and facilitate the retirement of our dirtiest power sources.

Further discussion about the implementation of both of these items (funding for energy efficient upgrades in buildings exempted from Local Law 97 and the “green” bond) is needed and Climate Works for All is prepared to work closely with the City to move all of this forward.

The Climate Works for All coalition requests additional funding be allocated to various City agencies tasked with executing the implementation of LL97 in order to ensure these agencies are sufficiently staffed by city employees for oversight and enforcement and have the resources needed to carry out the mandate.

Each of these investments will allow New York City to take critical, timely action to fight climate change, meet our City’s emissions reductions goals, and create thousands of good quality union jobs in our communities. We ask that you make a public commitment to these financial investments and to partnering with the Climate Works for All coalition in the development of these investments in your upcoming budget address on January 17th.  We look forward to future discussions with your office surrounding these requests.

Sincerely,

The Climate Works for All coalition and Allies

350 NYC

Action Corps NYC

ALIGN- The Alliance for a Greater New York

Bronx Climate Justice North

District Council 9 NY IUPAT

District Council 37, AFSCME

Green For All

Hazon

IBEW Local 3

Jewish Climate Action Network NYC (JCAN NYC)

Judson Memorial Church

Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy, Teachers College, Columbia University

North Bronx Racial Justice

Peoples Climate Movement – NY

The Point CDC

Pratt Center for Community Development

Sunrise NYC

Teamsters JC 16

UPROSE

New York City Environmental Justice Alliance

New York Lawyers for the Public Interest

New York State Nurses Association

New York Working Families

Nos Quedamos

NY NJ Regional Joint Board, Workers United, SEIU

NYC Chapter, Citizens’ Climate Lobby

NYC Democratic Socialists of America

Urban Homesteading Assistance Board

Workers Justice Project

 

Read MoreFrom: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND LABOR COALITION
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Lower East Side Compost Yard Faces Uncertain Fate as Resiliency Project Looms

“You must unite behind the science. You must take action. You must do the impossible. Because giving up can never ever be an option.” – Greta Thunberg

From Curbed NY:

The city is forcing a crucial composting program into a rushed relocation

By Caroline Spivack  
Council Member Carilina Rivera: “I find it wholly unacceptable that we’re here at this point, when [the center is] such an important part of what we’re trying to do here, which is to create a more sustainable park and a future where we’re fighting climate change with community solutions”
“From Councilmembers Peter Koo and Antonio Reynoso, who respectively chair the Council’s parks and sanitation committees:…
“[The compost yard’s] location in the East River Park is a vital part of the organization’s identity and a needed resource to New York City,” the lawmakers wrote. “We urge you to keep LES Ecology Center in East River Park until it is absolutely necessary, and that the administration honor its commitment to provide alternate space and assistance with relocation to ensure there is no disruption to LES Ecology Center’s compost operations.”

“Each week, some 3,500 people contribute eight tons of food scraps to a compost yard in East River Park run by the Lower East Side Ecology Center. Banana peels, onion skins, egg shells, and other organic waste fill a communal bin that’s mixed with wood chips off site, and eventually converted into nutrient-rich soil used in parks and gardens across the city.

The center’s work prevents mounds of food waste from entering landfills each year and has introduced countless New Yorkers to start composting since it launched in 1990.”

Read MoreLower East Side Compost Yard Faces Uncertain Fate as Resiliency Project Looms
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MTA Presentation on Ventilation Project

 

January 16, 2020 Meeting with community

At times contentious, the community struggled with the MTA representatives to find solutions to problems that have arisen since the start of this project – many centering on the lack of direct, time-sensitive communication to avoid misinformation, dangerous conditions, etc.

Thank you to Council Member Chin’s Gigi Li for organizing the meeting and working to get answers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read MoreMTA Presentation on Ventilation Project
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Bank your money on something other than dirty energy

From “Grist Action Guide”

“…where you put your hard-earned paycheck deserves a touch more consideration. Most major banks invest heavily in fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure — which means that if you put your cash in them, you’re enabling climate change and probably wreaking havoc on someone’s land or water.”

Credit unions are usually better options than major banks, at least in terms of energy investments.

  • Profits are member-distributed across the board.
  • Their investments tend to be more local and stimulate business within communities.
  • By virtue of being member owned, there’s more opportunity for members to dictate the bank’s activity.

 

Read on to find out if your current bank is a big fossil fuel backer and what you can do to get your cash out of coal, oil, and gas – here.

Read MoreBank your money on something other than dirty energy
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NYTimes: “Climate Change? Follow the Money”

“Climate Change? Follow the Money”

NYTimes By Lennox Yearwood Jr. and Bill McKibben

“..the money inside the vaults of banks like Chase is driving the climate crisis. Cutting off that flow of cash may be the single quickest step we can take to rein in the fossil fuel industry and slow the rapid warming of the earth.

JPMorgan Chase lent over $195 billion to gas and oil companies.

For comparison, Wells Fargo lent over $151 billion, Citibank lent over $129 billion and Bank of America lent over $106 billion. Since the Paris climate accord, which 195 countries agreed to in 2015, JPMorgan Chase has been the world’s largest investor in fossil fuels by a 29 percent margin…

There are few financial institutions untouched by these climate change-causing investments. Amalgamated Bank, Aspiration and Beneficial State Bank are notable exceptions. Local credit unions rarely have major investments in fossil fuels…

..It makes sense to go after the other center of power, too: the vast financial empire centered in our country. Insurance companies like Liberty Mutual and asset managers like BlackRock have also, through their investments in fossil fuels, enabled climate chaos.”

 

Read MoreNYTimes: “Climate Change? Follow the Money”
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Stanton Parkhouse Bathrooms Completed

Congratulations to the Parks Department for getting these done on time and quite beautifully.

Thank you to the Manhattan Borough President and Council Member Chin and Community Board 3 for their steadfast support both financial and political.

It might be two or more weeks before they are available to the public but very glad to have the Park area back for park use hopefully by springtime.

And..eager to move forward to reclaim this building for community use for recreation equipment, community space, resiliency and emergency hub and so much more!

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED:

  • Return of the Stanton StoreHouse to active community use creating an engaging and safe hub for all who use the park.
  • 1) Programming coordinated by University Settlement in partnership with the Stanton Bldg Task Force, community partners and residents
  •  2) Indoors and outdoor activation includes programs in park stewardship, fitness, recreation, ‘green culture’ and education
  •  3) Highlights:  Daytime workshops, after-school youth programs, evening community meetings and more 
  • Flexibly equipped with storage for gardening and recreational equipment, emergency communications. 

 

All SDR Park Coalition goals here.

Read MoreStanton Parkhouse Bathrooms Completed
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