Climate Wednesdays continues online: August 26, 7 pm
“Natural Allies: Working With Nature to Combat Climate Change”
Parks, waterways, and shady streets not only create healthier neighborhoods: they can help us confront the climate crisis. City trees cool sweltering "heat islands" and absorb carbon dioxide. Healthy coastal wetlands protect shorelines from storms. Green roofs and composting can play a pivotal role in the climate fight. How can we work with natural forces to promote a livable climate? And how can we share nature's benefits equitably?
350Brooklyn and Brooklyn Public Library’s next Climate Wednesdays event takes on these questions with a powerhouse panel. Eugenia (Genia) Naro-Marciel, chair of the NYU Global Liberal Studies concentration in Sustainability, Health and the Environment, will lead a discussion with four experts: Alan Burchell of Urbanstrong, a green roof and living wall design company; Jalisa Gilmore of NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, who works on urban ecology and social justice; Ceci Pineda of BK ROT, a composting and social justice group; and Nikita Scott of the NYC Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, which champions coastal preservation and ocean protection.
Registration is required at least one hour in advance of the program. Register here to join our “Climate Wednesdays” event in collaboration with Brooklyn Public Library.
The series wraps up on September 16 with “Green Collar Jobs: Making a Living, Forging a Better World.”
For more information:
New York needs a Climate, Jobs, and Justice Recovery
Virtual Rally August 19 at noon
NY Renews is launching a campaign for a Climate, Jobs, and Justice Recovery to call on the state legislature and governor to act at the scale of the interrelated climate, injustice, and economic crises. The legislature and governor will start developing their priorities for next year’s budget as soon as September, which means we need to act now. We need them to prioritize green jobs, community investment, and a renewable economy, and to raise the money by making corporate polluters pay for the greenhouse gases and toxic pollutants they emit. Rally and press conference on Wednesday, August 19, at noon.
Register here.
“The Case for Renewable Rikers: Community Conversations” comes to Brooklyn on Thursday, August 20, 5-6:30 pm
Please join us for a panel and community conversation about the future of Rikers Island. Brooklyn activists will talk about the importance of a Renewable Rikers plan at this pivotal time for our city. 350Brooklyn’s Georgi Page, who leads our City Action group, and representatives of BK ROT, Drive Change, Brooklyn Movement Center, JustLeadershipUSA, and VOCAL-NY will share their thoughts on how a Renewable Rikers Island might affect Brooklyn communities. For more info, see the event page on Facebook. You can also register for the Zoom webinar here.
Shoe Strike for the Climate
Saturday, August 29, from 10am-noon at Brooklyn Borough Hall
In a pandemic, it's harder to gather a crowd to call attention to the larger looming threat: the climate crisis. So on August 29, we'll let our shoes do the talking! As part of an international coalition of groups, organized by Fridays for Future, 350BK will lay out pairs of shoes with signs of protest and hope for a healthy, livable planet. Elected officials in our area, including Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, will send their shoes as well, along with messages of hope for our future. Look for us on the plaza by the grand pillar and staircase side of Brooklyn Borough Hall. The exhibit will be displayed from 10 am til noon. Come take a look on your way to the farmer's market, or feel free to donate some shoes! (Afterward we’ll donate all shoes to charity.) For press inquiries, contact [email protected].
Steamed over weather reports without climate context?
Meet with 350NYC’s Media Task Force on Monday, August 31, at 7:30
Do you watch or read local news? Are you frustrated when the context for a story should include the climate crisis, but there’s no mention of it anywhere? Our friends at 350NYC have a project for you! 350NYC’s Media Task Force monitors the news and has an entire toolkit directed at reshaping the presentation of the climate crisis. On Monday, August 31, at 7:30 pm members of the 350NYC Media Task Force will talk to us about their work and what we can do to help. Interested? Register for the zoom meeting here. Got friends who might be interested? Pass this along to them, too!
Calling all pipeline fighters: Sign and share this petition to stop National Grid’s North Brooklyn Pipeline!
National Grid, thwarted in its efforts to bring us the Williams pipeline, is currently building a pipeline in North Brooklyn designed to supply its LNG facility in Greenpoint. Our NYC elected officials should stop National Grid's repeated efforts to expand fracked gas. Sign this petition to tell Mayor de Blasio and others to block the North Brooklyn Pipeline! Our goal is 25,000 signatures by Labor Day!
