In what has been a whirlwind of a year here is a recap of major events from the past month, including the launch of a coalition, a new report, appointments, and the bittersweet transition of our Associate Director, Annel Hernandez. |
|
New Report! Opportunities for Growth: Nature-Based Jobs in NYC
|
|
To build equitable climate resilience in NYC, we have to invest in people, jobs, and nature-based solutions. To date, there has been little work to understand the system of jobs and careers that support nature in direct ways.
Find out more on the GAGE blog and check out the full report here.
|
|
NYS Climate Justice Working Group releases first-ever draft criteria for Disadvantaged Communities & recommends Direct Investment framework |
|
As a member of the NYS Climate Justice Working Group (or CJWG, established under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, or CLCPA), NYC-EJA Executive Director Eddie Bautista voted to approve the release for public comment of the draft criteria that will be used to identify "disadvantaged communities (DAC’s)" for the purposes of co-pollutant reductions, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, regulatory impact statements, and the allocation of 35-40% climate investments called for by the CLCPA.
The CJWG proposed 45 indicators of environmental exposures, burdens and climate change risks, sociodemographic characteristics and health outcomes to identify DAC's. The 45 indicators include 20 environmental burdens and climate change risks and 25 pollution characteristics and health vulnerabilities. The CJWG also included low-income households located anywhere in the State in the Disadvantaged Communities criteria strictly for the purpose of investing or directing clean energy programs, projects or investments. These individual households are households reporting total annual income at or below 60% of State Median Income, or households that are otherwise categorically eligible for low-income programs. Finally, members of the CJWG applauded NYS’s intended proposal to track/account for "direct climate investments" in DAC’s, rather than create a new, vague “benefits” category that would make CLCPA accountability impossible.
NYSDEC and NYSERDA will assure this information is available to the public, specifically the communities potentially classified as disadvantaged, and organizations and entities the serve these communities. Following the posting of the draft disadvantaged community criteria, there will be a public comment period of at least 120 days. In addition to this comment period, DEC will host a minimum of six regional public hearings during the public comment period on the draft list and criteria. Following the public comment period, the CJWG will vote on the final list of disadvantaged communities and criteria. This list and criteria will be reviewed at least annually by the CJWG. For further information, please contact Alanah N. Keddell-Tuckey, Director of NYSDEC Office of Environmental Justice (518) 402-8107 or
|
|
Last-Mile Coalition Launches! |
|
On December 15th, in Sunset Park, NYC-EJA and our allies launched a new city-wide campaign to regulate last-mile trucking facilities in New York City (NYC). Alongside our member organizations - UPROSE, El Puente, and The Point CDC - and other allies, the coalition is calling on the NYC City Planning Commission to pass a Zoning Resolution Text Amendment to mitigate the explosive growth of last-mile trucking facilities.
Watch the campaign launch here and read more about the call here.
|
|
Gowanus Re-powering Project Ceases |
|
On December 16, Astoria Generating Company (AGC), a subsidiary of Eastern Generation, LLC, officially announced its withdrawal of the Article 10 application for the Gowanus Re-powering Project and proposed building battery storage facilities in its city-wide properties.
AGC had previously filed its Article 10 review process to re-power the old, inefficient, and polluting peaker power plants at Gowanus Generating Station and Narrows Generating Station at Sunset Park with a new 610 MW generating facility. That would have meant continuing the burning of fossil fuels and harming the health and environment of New Yorkers, especially those in environmental justice communities.
UPROSE, a NYC-EJA and PEAK Coalition member, has led the fight against this re-powering project in Sunset Park for years. This is a climate-justice win for the community and represents another milestone in PEAK's campaign to close all of NYC's most polluting "peaker" power plants, replacing them with renewable generation and battery storage.
Read the press release here.
|
|
Appointments & Acknowledgments |
|
NYC-EJA's Executive Director Eddie Bautista was nominated to serve on the Transition Committee’s for Mayor-elect Eric Adams, Comptroller-elect Brad Lander and Brooklyn Borough President-elect Antonio Reynoso.
|
|
After nearly 6 years, NYC-EJA bids a bittersweet farewell to our Associate Director Annel Hernandez. Hired as our first Resiliency Planner, Annel expertly represented NYC-EJA across an array of coalitions and campaigns, whether serving on the Policy Committee of NY Renews as we helped shape the nation’s leading climate law NYS’s Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act, helping launch the PEAK Coalition to shut down the City’s peaker plants, or leading NYC-EJA’s green infrastructure work (among many other initiatives).
As Associate Director, Annel worked closely with our Executive Director on a range of administrative, programmatic and fundraising goals, always bringing her thoughtful analysis, sharp wit, positive spirit, collaborative sensibility and sense of humor to all her endeavors. As Annel embarks on her next chapter at the City Council, we at NYC-EJA are excited to see how else she will continue to improve the lives of New Yorkers - especially our most vulnerable neighbors.
|
|
Be sure to check for more exciting news from NYC-EJA about our 30th Anniversary and 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.
Sincerely,
Eddie Bautista
Executive Director
New York City Environmental Justice Alliance
Content/Editing/Compiling Contributions: Shravanthi Kanekal
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
