CLIMATE JUSTICE

Everyone deserves to live in a healthy and resilient community, protected from extreme weather and pollution. The reality is that the climate crisis endangers the safety, health and well-being of our communities. We see the effects most dramatically as New Yorkers—both Upstate and Downstate—experience disastrous storms and extreme flooding. For Black, Brown and indigenous communities, the crisis arrived decades ago, in the form of air and water pollution, contaminated land, and lead and mold in homes. Corporate polluters have made obscene wealth off of our communities, leaving Black, Brown and low-income families to clean up the mess and suffer the devastating health consequences. They have treated our children and families as expendable in their push for bigger and bigger profits.

We need to transform our economy with renewable energy jobs and infrastructure and hold corporations accountable for the cost of repair to our climate and our public health. To promote true climate justice, those closest to the crisis—communities of color, low-income communities and indigenous communities—must be the ones driving the solutions.