WE ACT Makes Recommendations to New York State’s Solar Roadmap to Ensure It Adheres to the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act

Jasmine Graham was quoted in WE ACT for Environmental Justice's press release:

“Lower utility bills are certainly welcome by the residents of these communities, who spend a greater percentage of their household income on energy bills, and often live in energy inefficient homes that require greater energy use,” said Jasmine Graham, Energy Justice Policy Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. “But that alone does not do them justice, nor does it fulfill the statutory requirements set forth in the CLCPA to provide 35-40 percent of the overall benefits of clean energy investments to disadvantaged communities. We need a more equitable roadmap for this transition.”

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“These communities have borne the brunt of air pollution and the impacts of climate change resulting from fossil fuel power plants and other environmental hazards that have been forced upon their communities over the years,” added Graham. “Take the South Bronx, for example, which has been home to two ‘temporary’ peaker plants for the past 20 years, contributing to some of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the nation. These communities deserve to be made whole from the disproportionate burdens they have endured for generations. That is why we are calling for these revisions to NYSERDA’s Roadmap, including the creation of a $100 million development fund to assist low-income community members in disadvantaged communities in owning and operating their own solar projects.”