Earlier this week, President Biden signed a slate of executive orders that focused on climate and environmental justice along with presidential memorandums to address the climate, COVID-19, economic, and racial crises. Follow this link to learn more about these orders and memorandums as well as our response to them. In addition, members of WE ACT's Federal Policy office spoke with a variety of media outlets about them, including Politico, Bloomberg, E&E News, and the Progressive Pulse.

Highlights from Mayor De Blasio's State of the City
Among the announcements made in New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s State of the City address last night was some great news on the environmental justice front. Next month, the City will launch a public engagement effort to develop its first-ever Environmental Justice for All report. This initiative will be led by the Environmental Justice Advisory Board, which is chaired by Peggy Shepard, so you can be sure we’ll be reaching out for your input. Stay tuned!
 
In addition, the Mayor announced a ban on fossil fuel connections in new construction by at least 2030. We applaud the move, though we strongly believe that it needs to happen much sooner – like next year! You can read our response in Harlem World. And you can learn about our work to transition homes and buildings from fossil fuels by attending our February Membership Meeting (scroll down for more information on that).
 

Uptown Chats:
Welcome to WE ACT

Tuesday, February 2
6:00 - 7:00 PM ET
via Zoom
 

We’ve received an amazing outpouring of support in recent months, so we’re inviting new donors and those who have supported us in the past to an overview of some of our major initiatives on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 6 PM ET. Our interactive panel of speakers will include:

Sonal Jessel, Director of Policy, on "Heat, Health, and Equity"

Kerene Tayloe, Director of Federal Legislative Affairs, on WE ACT's Federal Policy Objectives

Taylor Morton, Director of Environmental Health and Education, on the Future of WE ACT's Educational Programming

This is a great opportunity to learn about the work we are doing from the staff who are leading these initiatives. Please join us! RSVP Today

February Membership Meeting:
Out of Gas, In with Justice

Saturday, February 13
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET
via Zoom
 

Our next Membership Meeting is on February 13, the day before Valentine’s Day. We’ll be introducing you to decarbonization and electrification, two terms that figure into a lot of work we are doing – now and for the foreseeable future. Come and learn about our pilot program and statewide campaign to transition homes away from the use of natural gas and other fossil fuels (decarbonization) towards the use of renewable energy, which requires appliances that use electricity (electrification). For example, as part of our pilot program, we’ll be replacing gas stoves with induction stoves as well as installing air-source heat pumps in affordable housing. We’ll walk you through it all and answer any questions you may have. Plus, we are bringing in an expert to discuss COVID-19 vaccines. RSVP Today