Albany Advocacy Days: Help Us Get Climate Justice Education in the Classroom

Do you think kids should learn about climate change and climate justice in school? Then join us for the following Climate Education Advocacy Days: 

• Tuesday, January 23
• Tuesday, January 30 
• Tuesday, February 6

The National Wildlife Federation, co-leader of our Climate Resilience Education Task Force, has organized three Climate Education Advocacy Days to meet with legislators and their staff to advocate for our climate justice education bill ( S.278A / A.1559A ), which would establish a course of instruction and learning expectations on climate education in all of the state’s public elementary and secondary schools.

Food and transportation will be provided for these day-long trips. You can get all the details, including a link to sign up, by clicking here. And there will be a virtual prep meetings held via Zoom at 5 pm on Monday, January 22.

Albany Advocacy Days: Help Us Lower Energy Bills and Emissions

Do you want to help reduce energy bills and emissions? Then join us on Tuesday, January 23 for our first Albany Advocacy Day of the year, which will focus on passing the New York Home Energy Affordable Transition (NY HEAT) Act. We will be taking a bus up to Albany for a rally in the State Capitol Building followed by meetings with key state legislators to make sure we get this bill over the finish line.

As you may have heard, Governor Hochul pledged to eliminate the 100-foot rule, which was one of the requirements in the NY HEAT Act (see our response to her State-of-the-State Address). But she did not include the other part of the bill, which would cap household energy bills at 6 percent for all families. This is important because New Yorkers with a low or moderate income and New Yorkers of color pay on average a disproportionately higher percentage of their household income on energy, as much as three times more, and often live in older, less energy- efficient homes that require more energy to heat and cool. Failing to include this provision is really a disservice to the more than 1.2 million New Yorkers struggling with their energy bills this winter.
 
No lobbying experience necessary. Lunch and transportation are complimentary. Spend the day with us in Albany and make a difference! Register below and reach out to Annie Carforo at [email protected] with questions.

EPA Announces Recipients for Another $1 Billion for Electric School Buses

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced new awardees for grants to transition from dirty diesel to clean, electric school buses, including another 180 buses for New York City! We're thrilled to see the White House and the EPA prioritizing funding this year for school districts located in low-income, rural, and Tribal areas, that are already overburdened with pollution and environmental impacts.

The EPA Clean School Bus Program allocates $5 billion over 5 years to help school districts transition from diesel school buses to cleaner alternatives. With this latest announcement, the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program has awarded nearly $2 billion in total, investing in an estimated 5,000 electric school buses nationwide. And there are more opportunities for school districts to receive funding to purchase zero-emission, electric school buses. If your school district would like to replace your diesel school buses with electric models, we encourage you to apply to the EPA’s 2023 Clean School Bus (CSB) Rebates Program. The application period is open until January 31, 2024 and our TCTAC is available to help with technical assistance for federal funding opportunities like this!

Funding Opportunity: Webinar for New York State Municipal Officials on Grants
for Emission Reduction Projects

Peggy Shepard will be a panelist on the New York State Bar Association’s webinar to help New York State municipalities better understand how they can optimize their efforts to access the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program funding for greenhouse gas reduction projects. You can register here for the webinar, which will take place 11 am on January 23. You can also visit our EPA Region 2 TCTAC Funding Opportunities page for more information on this grant program.

Dr. Martinez Speaking at the Darwin Festival

Dr. Micaela Martinez will give a lecture at the annual Darwin Festival, a weeklong event that celebrates the work of Charles Darwin with sessions from leading researchers in the field of biology hosted by Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts. Dr. Martinez will give an in-person talk on February 15 titled “From Air to Makeup: Addressing Environmental Justice in the U.S.” about how structural racism impacts environmental exposures and health in the U.S.

• WE ACT’S EPA Region 2 TCTAC: The Chronicle of Philanthropy quoted Peggy Shepard in a feature about our Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (TCTAC) to assist frontline communities and organizations in New York and New Jersey to access millions of dollars of federal funding available for environmental justice. 
• Shoutout for Dana Johnson: Dana Johnson was featured in E&E News as one of nine "climate advocates to keep an eye on" for their exceptional work in pushing progress on climate change as we head into 2024 and a critically important election year.
• Climate Survey: The Climate Change in the American Mind: Climate Justice report was featured in a story about the varying views Americans have on the climate crisis, which have been split into six major categories. Manuel Salgado and Annika Larson helped craft the original survey.

Uptown Chats: Why Rats Are an Environmental Justice Issue

Check out the latest episode of Uptown Chats: Rats! We all know those furry creatures are a nuisance, but are they also an environmental justice issue? Listen to find out!