Another Voice: This year, New York needs a climate justice plan by and for our communities
This year, New York communities have seen an acceleration of the climate crisis. Nearly 50 people died in Western New York after last year’s historic blizzard. This summer, we saw record-breaking heat and were blanketed in toxic wildfire smoke, leading to skyrocketing increases in hospital visits for asthma and other chronic conditions.
In September, New York City was hit with a month’s worth of rain in only three hours, flooding basements, schools, subways and cars. Meanwhile, as fossil fuel corporations worldwide pull in record profits selling superheating pollutants like oil and fracked gas, here in New York, business groups are running a million-dollar ad campaign to slow the progress of NY’s Climate Act—our state’s landmark law mandating that NY reduce planet-warming pollution to 85% below 1990 levels by 2050.