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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, APR. 22-28, 2022 BXR
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
In their assessment of New
York’s 58 counties and their climate
resiliency and vulnerability,
state climate offi cials found
that nearly 7 million New Yorkers
will be disadvantaged by increasing
climate events such as
fl ash fl oods, rising water levels
on the coast and extreme heat.
A plan by the state’s 22-person
Climate Action Council is
set to be fi nalized by the end of
the year, where state climate offi
cials look to reach zero-emissions
in the state’s power sectors
by 2040 and by mandating at least
an 85% reduction in emissions by
2050.
That plan, however, received
massive pushback from Bronxites
and local climate advocates
at the fi rst of 10 public hearings
by the Climate Action Council,
as many voiced frustrations
with the Council’s progress in
climate justice and believe the
plans don’t go far enough to do
away with harmful fossil fuels
and the environmental harm on
New York’s most vulnerable communities.
“When we talk climate
change, look no further than
our asthma allies, our polluted
water streams and our fl ooded
streets when there’s a signifi cant
weather event,” Samaj Griffi n, a
Bronx climate activist told the
Bronx Times. “We don’t have ten
or fi fteen years. We only have the
present to try and prevent more
Bronxites from being victimized
by weak climate change policies.”
Manhattan College student
Brittany Baker, a resident of Mott
Haven which has struggled for
decades with air pollution from
nearby peaker power plants, said
the state needs to think “more
urgently” about meeting zeroemission
deadlines.
“I mean 2040 might seem
like a progressive benchmark
for some, but we are struggling
to breathe today,” she said. “For
too long, our communities (have)
been hurt by climate change because
of inaction and 20-year
timelines that further imperil
my generation’s future.”
Attempts to reach members
Bronxites, climate activists push back on
state’s lack of urgency in zero-emission plan
Last fall’s Hurricane Ida fl ooded Bronx walkways, parkways and roads, leading to the fi rst fl ash fl ood emergency in city history. Photo David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
from the Climate Action Council
were unsuccessful.
In the Bronx, which has the
highest number of Black and
brown neighborhoods affected
by the instability of climate
change in New York City, climate
suggestions came in the dozens
from accelerating the shut down
of South Bronx peaker plants to
a meaningful reinvestment into
the Bronx’s shoreline communities
that inevitably deal with rising
sea levels.
The 331-page plan, released
Dec. 30, 2021, plans to restructure
the economy, housing and transportation,
while ensuring climate
justice indicatives for communities
disparately affected by
climate change. The plan sets
metrics to increase 6,000 megawatts
of solar and 3,000 megawatts
of energy storage by 2025, a
transition to 70% renewable electric
by 2030.
The transition, the plan
states, is projected to generate
up to $120 billion and add 10 jobs
for every job lost compared to
inaction. Without a substantive
emission-cutting plan in place,
the state estimates an estimated
cost of $90 billion statewide
in response to future climate
change events.
The move to achieve these
benchmarks calls for substantial
investments and regulatory
changes to increase renewable
energy to power homes, cars and
buildings. Doing so would result
in job loss in sectors like gas stations,
but would result in substantial
growth in building and
construction, the plan says.
Also in their analysis of climate
disadvantaged communities,
New York State Energy and
Research Development Agency
(NYSERDA) found that census
tracts in the Bronx have the
highest rates of air pollution in
the state.
John Doyle, a 30-year resident
of City Island, said future
emissions-cutting could be accelerated
by providing more reliable
public transportation in
car-reliant, transit-deserts like
the east Bronx.
“It’s worth noting that our
east Bronx region has some of
the highest rates of automobile
ownership in the City, in some
neighborhoods almost 75%-85%
of residents own a car,” Doyle
said. “It should come as no surprise
that our area is also a
transit desert. To combat this,
we need 24/7 bus lines that run
frequently and we must expand
the NYC Ferry Service to touch
on more east Bronx neighborhoods.”
Members of the Clean Energy
Jobs Coalition, on behalf
of 225,000 union members, are
pushing the state to be more aggressive
in its effort to transition
the state to clean energy
through nuclear technology, hydrogen
gas and geothermal solutions
— in addition to solar and
wind farms.
The Coalition said the state’s
failure to adequately replace
shuttered power plants like
emission-free Indian Point Energy
Center, or rejecting plant
upgrades that would lower emissions,
has led to tighter supplies
and higher prices for all New
Yorkers — and threatens the
state’s energy reliability in the
near future.
E A RT H DAY
2022 EARTH DAY 2022