Over 500 NYers and Don Cheadle, Jane Fonda, John Leguizamo, and Bill McKibben join NY Renews to kick off campaign to make polluters pay for a Just Transition

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*: 

Contact: Arielle Swernoff | (646) 450-5461 | arielle@nyrenews.org 

Web: @NYRenews | www.nyrenews.org

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

Over 500 NYers and Don Cheadle, Jane Fonda, John Leguizamo, and Bill McKibben join NY Renews to kick off campaign to make polluters pay for a Just Transition 

August 19th, 12pm — Over 500 people logged on to join the NY Renews campaign kickoff for a Climate, Jobs, and Justice Recovery. The coalition, which last year worked to pass the nation-leading Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, is demanding that NY State create a just, green recovery plan by raising billions from corporate polluters and investing the funds into green job creation, programs driven by frontline communities, and renewable infrastructure.  

During the rally, over 200 attendees signed up to visit their legislators to lobby for a Climate, Jobs, and Justice Recovery. The rally also included guest videos from celebrities Don Cheadle, Jane Fonda, and John Leguizamo. 

Some of New York’s most prominent labor and progressive leaders joined and offered their support for the campaign, including Sochie Nnaemeka, New York State Director of the Working Families Party, Hae-Lin Choi, NY Communications Workers of America District 1, Nella Pineda-Marcon, RN and Board Member of the New York State Nurses Association, Eddie Bautista, Executive Director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director of UPROSE Brooklyn, Rahwa Ghirmatzion, Executive Director of PUSH Buffalo, and Fred Kowal, President of United University Professions. 

This campaign follows the NY Renews coalition’s successful push last year to pass the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which set the nation’s most aggressive legally binding standards for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and required that 40% of state energy spending go to communities overburdened by pollution and climate change. The 40% investment standard would also apply to the Climate, Jobs, and Justice Recovery program the coalition is now pushing.  

A full recording of the rally is available at http://bit.ly/nyrrally. 

“As part of the national Climate Justice leadership made up of Black Indigenous & People Color, choosing between Climate Change and Racial Justice is not an option - The stories of Hurricane Katrina, Andrew, Superstorm Sandy, Maria,  Racial Violence and Covid - is the story of the frontline of the climate crises  - it is  the story of my family -  Investing in Frontline communities is the only way to begin to alleviate the harm of a legacy of racial injustice that began with the extraction of our land and our labor,” said Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director of UPROSE and Co-Chair of the Climate Justice Alliance. 

“This is a critical moment for all New Yorkers with a public health crisis ongoing, a reckoning on our ongoing systemic racism, and both an economic and climate crisis worsening. However, the central idea that brought NY Renews together is even more true now than 4 years ago - Together we can address all these challenges and create solutions that address climate, jobs, and justice. New Yorkers do not need more austerity, we do not need tweaks, we need a transformation of our state to prioritize the health and sustainability of our communities. The way we get that is to make polluters and the rich pay their fair share to maintain vital services and create a climate, jobs, and justice recovery,” said Stephan Edel, NYRenews Coalition Coordinator.

“Citizen Action of New York is proud to be part of this new campaign fighting for investment in Black and Brown communities hit hardest by the climate, COVID, and the current economic crisis. Every community where we have chapters, including Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Kingston, Binghamton, Utica, and New York City, has the same pattern: the Black and Brown communities that have been ravaged by years of underinvestment are the same ones where fossil fuel and other industrial facilities are placed, hurting the health of local residents. We need a comprehensive strategy to uplift these neighborhoods. A critical component of this strategy is transitioning to a renewable energy economy that provides jobs for local residents,” said Rosemary Rivera, co-Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York.

“In this moment of crisis, New Yorkers have come out in record numbers — from protests and the polls — to demand transformational change from our leaders,” said Sochie Nnaemeka, New York State Director of the Working Families Party. “But we cannot tackle record unemployment, a historic pandemic, or continued police brutality without tackling the environmental injustice that buoys it all. We’re proud to stand with NY Renews and call for an ambitious climate justice agenda: to put people back to work in good jobs, protect our children from the toxic impact of fossil fuels, and protect our neighbors and planet from the environmental hazards that have already begun to spread in communities of color. In this time of crisis, we cannot afford to think small. We demand a massive investment in climate, justice, and jobs recovery.” 

“The climate crisis and the COVID pandemic are two symptoms of the same cause: environmental injustice,” said Frederick E. Kowal, Ph.D., president of United University Professions, which represents more than 37,000 State University of New York employees. “Now, more than ever, it is crucial for New Yorkers to rally behind a strong call for climate justice, which is what NY Renews’ new ‘Climate, Jobs and Justice Recovery’ campaign is. The coronavirus pandemic has hit low-income communities and communities of color especially hard, due in large part to the poor air quality and pollutants that have compromised the health of the people living there. UUP supports the state’s long-range plan to reduce carbon emissions, a plan that’s in keeping with the labor movement’s social justice goals, and our union’s own goals.”

“Climate change is a Public Health Crisis! Systemic Racism is a Public Health Crisis! We nurses are healers and we have a duty to serve the public. It is impossible to talk about healthcare without talking about the social determinants of health. It is impossible to talk about the social determinants of health without talking about climate and environmental justice,” said Nella Pineda-Marcon, BSN, RN-BC Director at Large of the New York State Nurses Association and Chair of their Climate Justice and Disaster Relief Committee.

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