Join us at 10 am this Saturday, January 14 for our first membership meeting of 2023! It will be held in-person at the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, which is located at 454 West 155th Street (between St. Nicholas & Amsterdam).
At this meeting, we’ll be sharing the preliminary results of our Out of Gas, In With Justice pilot program. We will also talk about the federal Inflation Reduction Act; New York State’s Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Bond Act; and the potential impact these wins can have on our communities.
Albany Advocacy Day: Kick Fossil Fuels Out of Buildings
Join us January 24 in Albany as we demand that Governor Hochul and the legislature pass key climate legislation this year to kick fossil fuels out of buildings.
We will kick off the day with a rally and press conference in the State Capitol to push Governor Hochul to include vital bills in her proposed budget. Then we will break into lobby teams(no prior lobbying experience necessary) to talk to our elected representatives and win their support for these important bills.
Join us on Friday, January 27, 12:30 pm - 2 pm for an online panel discussion of the results of our Beauty Inside Out survey of Northern Manhattan residents, which examined the use of chemical straighteners and skin lighteners among adults of color. The panel will include makeup artists, academics, and activists to bring us a robust discussion on this important topic affecting our community.
Join us on Wednesday, February 1 from 6 - 7:30 pm for our Uptown Chats on environmental education. During this interactive online event, we will be discussing our award-winning Environmental Health and Justice Leadership Training (EHJLT) program. Participants will also learn about our involvement in a climate justice education policy campaign in New York State, hear updates about the new WE ACT Environmental Justice Center, and test their environmental justice knowledge in a trivia game for a chance to win a prize!
As part of the Clean Air for the Long Haul coalition, we issued a statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed update to its existing particulate matter standards, urging the agency to adopt much stronger soot pollution standards.
Reducing Harmful Chemical Exposure: Peggy Shepard was among the authors of a paper published in Environmental Health that provides multi-disciplinary consensus recommendations for health-protective, scientific approaches to reduce harmful chemical exposures. Low-income communities and communities of color bear disproportionate burdens of the exposure and impact from the manufacture of industrial chemicals. Applying these recommendations would reduce the harm to the public, and these communities in particular.
High Utility Bill Debt: Briana Carbajal was quoted in an article in the Good Men Project on the disproportionate burden that low-income New Yorkers face this winter with skyrocketing utility bills.
One45 Truck Depot: Pamela Stewart-Martinez was featured in CBS New York's coverage of the campaign and rally to stop a proposed polluting truck depot at the One45 site in Harlem: "We should never have to choose between being displaced by a developer or being poisoned by the developer."
Natural Gas Pollution: Anastasia Gordon was quoted in an article from The City about the polluting impacts on the health of NYCHA residents at Cooper Park in Brooklyn and the expansion of the natural gas industry: “Yes, [natural gas] is cleaner than coal, but it’s still a fossil fuel. It still emits not just carbon pollution, highly potent greenhouse gasses, but also particulate matter, which causes egregious forms of environmental injustices."
Climate Resolutions: Annie Carforo was quoted in this 19th News article on why harmful gas stoves should be removed from public housing.
Call for Artists from the MTA
The MTA is seeking proposals from artists for a new public art piece at the Park Avenue Viaduct at East 116th Street in Harlem. The MTA is replacing segments of the viaduct and will add the new artwork as part of the replacement project. The new permanent artwork will be fabricated in durable materials, such as metal. An approved fabricator will be translating the final artwork designs into the identified media, however an artist’s prior experience with these materials and technical complexity will be preferred when reviewing proposals.
Join the WE ACT Team!
Help fight for environmental justice by joining the WE ACT team! Applications are now open for two new positions:
Employment Coordinator Based in our New York City office. The job description can be downloaded here (PDF).
Workforce Development Associate Based in our New York City office. The job description can be downloaded here (PDF).
Check out our website for a full listing of all current positions!
