Candidates Forum: Get to Know the Candidates for New York State Assembly District 68
Get to know the candidates seeking to represent you in New York State Assembly District 68 at our Candidates Forum on Thursday, April 21 at 6:30 PM. Confirmed candidates include Daby Carreras, Eddie Gibbs, Wilfredo Lopez, & Tamika Mapp. Learn more about these candidates here, and RSVP for the forum here.
On Friday, April 29, we will have a Candidates Forum for the New York State Governor, Lt. Governor, & Attorney General races at 6:30 PM. RSVP here. And on Saturday, May 14 at 10:00 AM, we will have a Candidates Forum for Northern Manhattan’s U.S. Senate and House of Representative races as part of our May Membership Meeting. RSVP here.
Missed our New York State Assembly Districts 70 & 71 Candidates Forum? Watch the video replay here. And yesterday’s New York State Senate Districts 32 & 33 Candidates Forum will be posted on our YouTube channel soon.
Celebrate Earth Day by Taking Action! Attend Our Earth Day Advocacy Days
We are having two Earth Day advocacy days. The first will be on Earth Day, Friday, April 22. We will be taking a free bus up to Albany to meet with elected officials and rally in support of climate justice legislation. The second will be a virtual advocacy day on Tuesday, April 26, during which we will meet with elected officials online to advocate for legislation to reduce air pollution, lead, and other toxic substances in our community. Sign up for whichever one best suits you - or both!
RSVP here for the April 22nd In-Person Advocacy Day on Climate Justice
RSVP here for the April 26th Virtual Advocacy Day on Toxics
New Member Orientation Get to Know WE ACT & the Work We Do
Are you new to WE ACT and want to learn about our history, what we are currently working on, and how you can get more involved? Sign up for WE ACT’s New Member Orientation, which will be held via Zoom at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, April 27. RSVP here.
Learn About the Safer Beauty Bills And Take Action!
Yuwa Vosper will be on a Dandi Day panel at 3:00 PM on Tuesday, April 19 discussing the Safer Beauty Bills federal legislative package and how it will reduce toxics in beauty products. RSVP here and come learn about this critical legislation our Federal Policy Office is working on. We also urge you to take action to support these bills by sending an automated letter (click here) to your congressional representative asking them to support the Safer Beauty Bills package, which you can learn more about here.
Annual Earth Day 5K Fun Run Celebrate Earth Day by Supporting WE ACT!
Register today and come celebrate Earth Day, help raise funds for WE ACT, and run or walk for a healthier, greener community at our annual Earth Day 5K fundraiser. Like much of our lives right now, it will be both virtual and in-person. Participants can run or walk five kilometers (3.1 miles) at a time and place of their choosing beginning on Earth Day, Friday, April 22. And on Sunday, May 1, we will have an in-person run and/or walk on Randall’s Island for those who want to participate in-person. You can register here as an individual or as a team. If you choose to start a team, you can share your team fundraising page with family, friends, and colleagues interested in joining your team or donating to support it. We hope you can join us!
And many thanks to our sponsors: Vestar, our Gold sponsor, and ARO and Langan, our Supporter sponsors.
Peggy Shepard joined the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice’s Dr. Beverly Wright and Texas Southern University Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice’s Dr. Robert Bullard for a panel discussion of the Justice40 initiative at the 8th Annual HBCU Climate Change Conference in New Orleans. And Peggy also received the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice’s Damu Smith Award during the conference (she is pictured above, with Dr. Beverly Wright and Dr. Robert Bullard).
WE ACT, DSCEJ, & Bullard Center Announce Justice40 Initiative
Earlier this week, the trio announced the launch of a joint initiative between WE ACT, the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, and the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice to ensure federal Justice40 funding reaches the communities it’s intended to support. This will include developing a screening tool to determine where Justice40 funds are needed most, educating local organizations on the resources available, and informing state and local governments on how the money should be used. Coverage of the announcement appeared in E&E News and the Daily Kos as well as an Associated Press story that appeared in the Independent, Seattle Times, Spectrum 1 News, Washington Post, and other outlets.
Anastasia Gordon Calls for Stronger Truck Emissions Standards
Anastasia Gordon testified at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Heavy-Duty Engine & Vehicle Standards hearing earlier this week. She called for strong standards that reduce pollution, protect health, and accelerate the transition to zero-emission electric trucks by 2035. Read her testimony here (PDF).
WE ACT Responds to NY State Budget Funding Falls Well Short of Needs
Our New York State policy team has been reviewing the recently released New York State 2022-23 budget and were not at all happy with what they found. Yes, it did include some good initiatives, like funding the State’s transition to all-electric school buses by 2035, which is based on legislation we helped pass here in New York City. But, overall, our representatives in Albany failed to show their commitment to environmental and climate justice, providing pennies on the dollar in terms of funding the programs and legislation needed. Read the full response here, and the coverage in Harlem World here.
The New York Amsterdam News featured our support for South Bronx Unite in calling for a timetable to close the peaker plants in the South Bronx and other communities, quoting LJ Portis discussing how the South Bronx has become an environmental sacrifice zone. Read it here.
Peggy Shepard voiced opposition in the Hill to the Biden administration’s plan to expand liquefied natural gas exports. Read it here.
Harlem World featured our call for Albany to include $15 billion in the New York State budget to fund climate justice legislation as well as our call to pass and fund the All-Electric Building Act. Read them here and here.
Jasmine Graham appeared in an article in the Progressive as well as Common Dreams, noting that building performance standards are a useful tool to reduce emissions from existing buildings. Read them here and here.
WE ACT's Membership Planning Committee Take a Leadership Role
Our Membership Planning Committee serves a leadership role in our membership and does a lot of the work planning and preparing for our Membership Meetings and other events. The committee also works toward more effective communication between the membership body and staff and helps set goals for membership participation. We are holding elections for this volunteer committee and encourage any member interested in becoming a candidate to please complete this form by Friday, May 6. Questions? Reach out to Bailey at [email protected].
