Dear friends,
On the heels of the decision to block the Astoria power plant, NY Renews met with Governor Hochul last week and asked her to stop National Grid's fracked gas vaporizers next.
The governor said, “We are stopping anything that’s going to hurt the people of this state. I’m going to fight for our kids and I’m going to fight for their health.”
We take nothing for granted.
Sign this petition to call on the governor and DEC to block the Liquified Natural Gas facility at the head of the North Brooklyn Pipeline.
I talked to a few climate activists who felt, last week, that we were slowly, inexorably, turning the ship in a better direction. This feeling is one we should hold onto during the days/weeks/months ahead. From moment to moment, it can be difficult to see our progress.
Watch Zealous Observer’s video testimony to the House Oversight Committee.
Regrettably, this action went to my spam folder last week. Still, it’s worth calling on our Congressional reps to hold the fossil fuel corporations accountable.
Write now to your congressional delegation about their duty to make the industry pay for the damage they’ve done.
Globally, of course, it’s time for COP26, the Conference of the Parties that have been meeting annually since 1995 to discuss climate action. This year is different, as the consensus toward action is growing.
In his role as host of COP26 in Glasgow, Johnson has been lobbying other world leaders, urging them to “grow up” and stop treating the earth like “some bouncy plastic romper room against which we can hurl ourselves to our heart’s content.”
BoJo does not generally impress me, but I like his imagery here.
You may have already voted, or you’re doing that tomorrow (don’t forget!). Voting is the beginning of our civic duty, not the end, as you know. (In case you missed it, I discussed the ballot questions last week.)
We have a special opportunity to work from home on one of our core justice issues. NY Renews has organized legislative calls — virtual lobbying — to help get the CCIA passed.
The Climate and Community Investment Act (S.4264A/A6967) is a critical piece of legislation designed to make corporations pay for their greenhouse gas emissions so that we can use those funds to invest in infrastructure to protect frontline communities, facilitate green transportation and manufacturing, and provide a just transition for folks who will lose their jobs in the sectors of the economy that must be scaled back.
Fossil fuel companies have made their profits by externalizing their costs. Black and brown communities have been bearing these costs disproportionately, and people are paying with their health and the quality of their environment.
When the Climate and Community Investment Act mandates fees on greenhouse gases and co-pollutants, starting at $55 per ton of greenhouse gas emissions, it will raise about $15 billion annually over the first 10 years.
The funds generated by the CCIA will go to community-based organizations located in or serving environmental justice communities: largely Black, brown, and low-income communities disproportionately burdened by climate change and pollution. This Community Just Transition Fund will make grants for community-led renewable infrastructure, efficiency, and climate adaptability programs.
In addition, the energy rebate program would redirect billions of dollars of fossil fuel industry profits and revenue to communities and families across New York State.
Join a legislative call to a state senator or assembly member. Let’s get this legislation passed!
I’m afraid we need to revisit the rolling crisis at Rikers Island. Last week, I cited an Op-Ed that called on the city’s DAs to do what the mayor has refused to do: release people who are jailed if they are charged with non-violent crimes.
We are calling on the five DAs to use their power to act now and safely decarcerate Rikers Island by adopting three commonsense measures:
Release everyone in jail facing low-level and nonviolent charges. Rely on the city’s extensive network of community-based service providers and alternatives to incarceration to individually review and consider release for everyone else. And stop requesting bail amounts beyond what most New Yorkers can afford.
Write to the city’s DAs and ask them to take immediate action to call for the release people from Rikers and reduce bail. A sample message is included.
A new Op-Ed appeared on Friday, calling for efforts to speed the closing of Rikers Island.
We need to invest in community resources that meet people’s needs and get at the root drivers of poverty, poor health and crime. We need to ensure people can access stable housing, quality health care and steady employment. And our ongoing plans to reduce our city’s jail population must be based not only on a commitment to these investments, but also on undoing the myriad ways our legal system currently criminalizes poverty and health issues like addiction and mental illness, and keeps people, disproportionately communities of color, entrapped in states of debt and despair.
The specific proposals include support for bail reform and the Treatment Not Jails Act.
The Legal Aid Society has come out in support of the bill, calling it:
a pragmatic shift towards a more holistic and harm-reduction-oriented understanding of recovery and community safety. It adopts a smart-on-crime approach to ensuring that people most in need of treatment have access to specialized services while also making our communities safer and more resilient.
Time to add our voices. Contact your state senator to ask for their support for the Treatment Not Jails Act. A sample message is provided.
Have a great day!
with love,
L