TONIGHT: Meet the Candidates Running for Assembly District 70
Join us tonight with Marcus Meets Malcom for a Candidates Forum for New York State Assembly District 70, along with Indivisible Harlem, Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association, and NAACP Mid-Manhattan Branch. We’ve invited all the candidates for this primary race to attend, introduce themselves, and answer questions from our community members about key environmental justice and other issues impacting our community ahead of the 2024 New York State Primary Election on June 25. The meeting will be held on Friday, May 17 from 6 - 7:30 pm outdoors (so please dress appropriately) on West 120th Street between Malcolm X Boulevard (a.k.a. Lenox Avenue) & Fifth Avenue.
TOMORROW: May Membership Meeting: Meet the Candidates Running for Assembly District 69
At our May Membership Meeting on Saturday, May 18, we will host a Candidate’s Forum to introduce you to all the candidates running for New York State Assembly District 69. We’ve invited all the candidates for this primary race to attend, introduce themselves, and answer questions from our community members about key environmental justice and other issues impacting our community ahead of the 2024 New York State Primary Election on June 25. The in-person meeting will begin at 10 am at the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building, located at 163 West 125th Street (at the corner of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard). Be sure to arrive early – and with a photo ID – as you will need to go through security to enter the building.
Albany Advocacy Day: Help Prevent Childhood Lead Poisoning
Join us on Tuesday, May 21 as we head to Albany with the Lead Free Kids New York collation to urge lawmakers to pass the Lead Paint Right to Know Act. On this day-long trip (food and transportation included), we will teach you more about the bill and then arrange group meetings with State legislators and their staff to explain why they should support it.
TAKE ACTION: Help Us Pass Key New York State Environmental Justice Legislation
The New York State legislature is in session for just a few more weeks, and in addition to the NY HEAT Act, there are three other key bills that we need your urgent help convincing the State Legislature in Albany to pass!
Lead Paint Right to Know Act: New York State leads the nation in cases of children with elevated blood levels. That is why we need to pass the Lead Paint Right to Know Act (S.2353/A.4820) by June 6, as it will require disclosure of lead paint test reports in all real estate transactions so families can know whether their new home has lead paint. Here are three ways you can help:
Beauty Justice Act: Personal care products – everything from cosmetics to soaps and shampoos to hair straighteners – are largely unregulated, with far too many containing toxic ingredients that have been linked to serious health issues like cancer. That is why we need to pass the Beauty Justice Act (S.4265/A.6969) by June 6, as it will ban most of these substances in New York State. Here are three ways you can help:
Enhanced Public Participation Act
New York State's Enhanced Public Participation Act (S.2510A/A.6584A) requires applicants for major polluting projects looking to site in or near a disadvantaged community to submit an enhanced public participation plan for community engagement, giving communities like ours a voice in whether polluting facilities are built in our neighborhood. That is why we need to pass it by June 6, and here is how you can help:
New Federal Rules Will Help Build Out Our National Electric System
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is a federal agency that regulates the interstate transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas and regulates the prices of interstate transport of petroleum by pipeline. If that sounds like a mouth-full, that's because it is, but this agency is important for making sure we have the electrical grid to support a full transition to renewable energy. The new rules aim to enable the build-out of new electric transmission lines, advance a clean, renewable energy future, and reduce energy costs.
FERC also appointed Nicole Sitaraman, a 2019 WE ACT Gala Honoree, as permanent Director of the Office of Public Participation. Anastasia Gordon, our Federal Policy Director, praised these steps, highlighting the potential for improved planning and cost allocation to benefit communities of color and low-income households. We remain committed to ensuring effective implementation with equity and environmental justice at the forefront, noting that these reforms are essential for unlocking the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and addressing the energy burdens faced by marginalized communities.
Calling for Increased Federal Funding for Cooling Assistance
Last summer's record-breaking heat showed us once again that we urgently need resources to combat extreme temperatures that disproportionately affect people of color and low-income folks. The federally funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a vital resource for our communities, providing heating and cooling such as A/Cs and fans. However, LIHEAP is severely underfunded, serving only about 17-percent of eligible households. WE ACT, alongside 49 other organizations, is urging the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, Appropriations in the U.S. House of Representatives, to fully fund LIHEAP in their FY2025 appropriations bill.
This funding is critical for households facing high energy burdens and climate crisis impacts, especially as communities of color are disproportionately affected by disasters and have limited access to assistance. The letter calls for funding that meets the $5.1 billion maximum authorized amount for LIHEAP to protect eligible families year-round, ensuring the health and well-being of low-income communities, communities of color, and Tribal communities nationwide.
As part of our advocacy campaign for New York State’s Beauty Justice Act, attendees from our Beauty Justice Fairs went on camera to talk about why beauty justice is important to them. We’re tagging lawmakers on social media who have yet to support this legislation as part of our advocacy efforts.
TAKE ACTION: Demand the City Fund Environmental Justice in the 2025 Budget
The climate crisis and other environmental hazards have proven tremendously costly for New York City, in terms of lives and livelihoods as well as damage to infrastructure and the communities where we live. There is an urgent need to make substantial, strategic investments in climate and environmental issues across New York City agencies to mitigate future impacts of the climate crisis and prevent environmental racism.
We all know environmental racism and climate change are bad, but what exactly are the systemic and scientific forces behind them and how do they impact our health? Dr. Micaela Martinez breaks it down in an overview of environmental justice, environmental health, climate change, and health disparities that we hosted as part of our TCTAC to prepare more leaders for advocacy in these areas. Watch the video replay here and download the presentation here (PDF).
Looking for NJ/NY Organizations to Support In-Person Outreach for WE ACT TCTAC
Our Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (TCTAC) is helping organizations in EPA Region 2 access federal funding opportunities to advance environmental justice. To improve in-person outreach throughout New Jersey and New York, we are building a network of community outreach voices: WE ACT TCTAC Community Voices. Organizations participating in the WE ACT TCTAC Community Voices cohort will meet throughout the two-year partnership to determine regional priorities regarding environmental justice, climate justice, and energy justice, which will inform a Regional Environmental Justice Network in subsequent years of this project.
TCTAC Community Voices will also receive equitable compensation for participation. We encourage you to learn more here (PDF) and complete the WE ACT TCTAC Community Voices Application Form by Friday, May 31. Please direct any questions to the WE ACT TCTAC team at [email protected] with the subject TCTAC Community Voices Application.
Help Your Uptown Community Prepare for Climate Change
Do you work with an organization in Northern Manhattan? WE ACT is bringing back our award-winning Climate Ready Uptown Plan Workshops, and we would love to host one for your members! We’ll be doing workshops all summer long at member-based community organizations based Uptown. At these workshops, we will distribute the Climate Ready Uptown Plan - an interactive pamphlet that helps Northern Manhattan community members understand their individual risk to climate-related disasters – specifically extreme heat and flooding. And we’ll educate participants on the basics of extreme weather and disaster preparedness.
If you or your organization is interested, please fill out the form and we'll be in touch with details!
APPLY TODAY: Cooling Assistance Helps Eligible Households Buy and Install an Air Conditioner or Fan
Click here to see if you are eligible for financial support to cover the cost and installation of an air conditioner or fan in your home. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, so act today because funding for this program has run out in July the last two years!
Peggy Shepard on Princeton Environmental Justice Panel
Peggy Shepard will be at Princeton University on May 24 to participate in a panel, "America the Beautiful, from Sea to Shining Sea: The Impact of Racism on Environmental Justice," hosted by Concerned Black Alumni of Princeton, as part of Reunions weekend. In addition to raising awareness and understanding of environmental justice and its role in combating racism, the organization hopes to raise funds and support for establishing an applied research center at the university to combat and eradicate racism.
Dr. Micaela Martinez Speaking at the National Academies of Science
Dr. Micaela Martinez will be a guest speaker at the National Academies of Science presenting a case study on strategic community action as well as a panelist discussing resilience on May 29.
Beauty Justice Act: Briana Carbajal was featured in an Albany Times-Union story on the Beauty Justice Act, with a photo of her speaking at a press conference at the State Capitol in Albany. She also appeared in coverage of the press conference on Albany’s ABC News 10.
Governor Hochul and the Climate: Peggy Shepard was quoted in a POLITICO story about a meeting New York State Governor Kathy Hochul had with environmental leaders, suggesting the Governor strengthen climate leadership across all state agencies.
Our policy team headed to Albany this week to join other organizations and lawmakers in calling for the passage of several important bills to ban PFAS, a dangerous forever chemical, from more of our products. We were there pushing the Beauty Justice Act, to ban PFAS from cosmetics and personal care products. You can help us push for this bill too by sending an email to lawmakers and joining our call relay.
Last month Peggy Shepard gave the annual Nancy Weiser Ignatius Lecture at American University’s School of International Service in Washington, DC. The school shared this photo and a recap of the event can be found here.
Uptown Chats: New Election Episode
In the latest episode of our Uptown Chats podcast, Jaron and Lonnie talk to Pamela Stewart-Martinez about the upcoming New York State Primary Election on June 25.
