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Cool News in Hot Times: New Bill Will Require Landlords to Provide AC in NYC
When we helped form the New York State Extreme Heat Coalition, one of the key bills in our 2024 Extreme Heat Policy Agenda was establishing a maximum indoor air temperature. Similar to the existing law that requires landlords to provide heating in the winter, this bill requires landlords to cool homes down to at least 78 degrees Fahrenheit when the outside temperature reaches 82 degrees Fahrenheit. The bill, Intro 0994, was introduced by New York City Council Member Lincoln Restler (D-33) earlier this week, and it's a great way to commemorate Extreme Heat Month!
In addition to improvements to the City's Cooling Center program and federally-funded and state-implemented LIHEAP program, establishing a maximum indoor air temperature is something we have been advocating for over the past few years because extreme heat is the deadliest impact of climate change - and it does not impact everyone equally. According to the City's recently released EJNYC Report, Black New Yorkers are twice as likely to die from heat stress as white New Yorkers. That report goes on to explain: “As a result of systemic racism, lack of green space, limited access to air-conditioning, and poor housing quality, heat-exacerbated deaths are more common in neighborhoods that are home to a greater proportion of low-income and Black New Yorkers.”
Caleb Smith was quoted in the New York Times coverage of this announcement, which sparked coverage in the Real Deal and CRE Daily as well - both of which also quoted Caleb. Stay tuned for more details, and how you can help us make sure this bill becomes a law!
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SATURDAY: Come to Our Membership BBQ
We’re getting ready to fire up the grill, folks! Tomorrow, Saturday, July 20, is our annual Membership BBQ. And we absolutely, positively guarantee it will be the best we’ve ever had! Come join us from 11:00 AM – 3:30 PM at the Sojourner Truth School (PS-MS 149), which is located at 41 West 117th Street (between Lenox & Fifth Avenues). It’s rain or shine, as we will have an indoor space where you can cool off as well. The crew has put together all sorts of fun and games. All we ask is that you let us know if you are planning to attend so we know how much food to prepare.
ATTENTION MEMBERS: We will also be voting for our new Membership Planning Committee at the BBQ. Our Membership Planning Committee serves a leadership role in our membership and does a lot of the work planning and preparing for our monthly Membership Meetings as well as reviewing and endorsing our annual policy agenda and other duties.
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Out of Gas, In with Justice: Scientific Paper on Findings Published
Many of you may recall the groundbreaking Out of Gas, In with Justice pilot program we conducted back in 2021-22. We studied the impact on indoor air quality when replacing gas stoves with induction stoves in a NYCHA development in the Bronx. And we learned that gas stoves are a dangerous source of indoor air pollution.
Annie Carforo, who spearheaded the program, was part of the team that published our official findings in a paper, Out of Gas, In with Justice: Findings from a Gas-to-Induction Pilot in Low-Income Housing in New York City, in Energy Research & Social Science, a peer-reviewed international journal that publishes original research and review articles examining the relationship between energy systems and society. The paper explains how "our quantitative and qualitative results suggest that decarbonization energy transitions can improve health by reducing indoor NO2 but need to extend beyond single appliance swap-out to address health issues resulting from energy insecurity."
The publication of this scientific paper is an instrumental piece of our ongoing campaign to make the case for the public health benefits of the equitable decarbonization and electrification of buildings. And we will soon be rolling out the next phase, so stay tuned!
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Good Neighbors No More: Supreme Court Decision Will Send More Pollution Your Way
In the latest of a long line of poor decisions, the Supreme Court of the United States paused the implementation of a critical clean air regulation known as the Good Neighbor Plan. The rule, finalized in March 2023, aimed to significantly reduce harmful smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that impact neighboring states - often downwind of this air pollution - and their ability to attain and maintain air quality standards for ground-level ozone. We are part of the Clean Air for the Long Haul coalition, a nationwide group of environmental justice organizations fighting for federal regulatory action to improve air quality and public health, which released a statement condemning this decision and uplifting the promising results - such as reducing 18 percent of toxic NOx pollution in 10 states during the 2023 ozone season - the Good Neighbor Plan had already achieved. Read Our Statement
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Peggy Shepard Speaking at White House Environmental Justice Summit
Peggy Shepard will be travelling down to Washington, DC next week where she will be speaking at the Climate Action Campaign’s “Solutions for Pollution” event with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan on July 23. She will also be speaking at the White House’s Environmental Justice Summit on July 24. And later that day she will participate in the Women in Environmental Leadership’s panel at the Anacostia Community Museum.
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Caleb Smith Talks Equitable Heat Solutions at Webinars
Caleb Smith will join the Waterfront Alliance’s Taking the Heat: Are We Ready panel discussion on Tuesday, July 23 at 12:00 PM. The focus of this webinar will be what actions need to be taken to protect environmental justice communities from extreme heat and the other disproportionate impacts of the climate crisis. RSVP Here
Caleb was also part of Beat the Heat: A Multi-Stakeholder Approach with CDC's New Heat and Health Initiative, a webinar we cosponsored with the American Public Health Association and the National League of Cities. Watch the Replay
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WATCH: South Bronx Unite in Dare to Breathe Campaign Against Air Pollution
We are part of Clean Air for the Long Haul, a coalition of frontline activists and organizers leading the charge on federal rulemaking campaigns to reduce air pollution from power plants, cars, and trucks. One of those campaigns, Dare to Breathe, showcases the impact of this pollution on environmental justice communities and the activists who are working to address it.
We wanted to share this video of Leslie Vasquez, a Clean Air Project Organizer at South Bronx Unite. Leslie and her team set up air quality monitors across the South Bronx, which has some of the worst air pollution - and highest asthma hospitalization rates - in New York City. And to put that in perspective, New York City has some of the highest asthma hospitalization rates and deaths among children and young adults in the nation, with Black and Latinx populations accounting for more than 80 percent of these cases, according to Columbia Mailman's Center for Children's Environmental Health.
The South Bronx is littered with highways, shipping centers, factories, and other steady sources of dangerous air pollution. Leslie and her colleagues at South Bronx Unite are working with over a dozen environmental justice organizations in the Clean Air for the Long Haul coalition to push the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set stronger national air pollution standards that are going to make all of us healthier. Watch her story and Dare to Breathe!
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Take Action: Don't Let Them Water Down One of NYC's Most Important Climate Laws!
Local Law 97 is the most aggressive and ambitious city climate law in the country that we helped pass in 2019. New York City’s buildings are responsible for 70 percent of climate pollution in the city, and this law is set to begin slashing building emissions drastically starting this year. However, a new bill, Intro 772, which could severely weaken Local Law 97, has been introduced in City Council and is gaining traction. We cannot let this bill pass and weaken our efforts for cleaner and healthier buildings throughout the city. Send an email to New York City Council members and make a phone call to your Council member telling them to defend Local Law 97!
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The Columbia Spectator wrote about advocacy efforts to improve New York City’s Cooling Center program in an article that featured quotes and insight from Annie Carforo.
The Columbia Spectator also wrote about New York State Governor Kathy Hochul’s sudden halt to congestion pricing, noting the concern we expressed in a statement released last month.
And, as mentioned above, Caleb Smith was featured in the New York Times story on legislation that will effectively establish a maximum indoor air temperature in New York City, so residents can live in cool apartments during the summer. Coverage also appeared in the Real Deal and CRE Daily.
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LISTEN: US Energy Policy Wrong Direction Mini-Series: Carbon Capture
Has someone been trying to convince you that carbon capture and sequestration or storage is part of the solution to the climate crisis? Don't be fooled by these false solutions. Listen to our Uptown Chat's Wrong Direction mini-series about why the U.S. Department of Energy’s is heading in the Wrong Direction with these questionable and dangerous technologies. In our latest podcast episode, Lonnie and Jaron sit down with Dr. Ana Baptista, Director of the Tishman Environment & Design Center at the New School, to talk about carbon capture. Listen Today
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DOJ's Environmental Justice Plan: Seeking Your Feedback
The U.S. Department of Justice is drafting an Environmental Justice Strategic Plan that will specify its vision, goals, and priority actions to advance environmental justice. And they are looking for your input! You can watch this video and visit its website to learn more, including how you can submit comments.
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Share Your Opinion: Take the New Communities Speak Spring Survey
Click here to complete the Community Speak Spring Survey, which was developed by Columbia University researchers to increase the diversity and influence of community voices in policymaking by developing data-driven dialogue between community leaders, constituents, and governments. All responses will be kept anonymous! Take the Survey
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