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Earth Day 5K Fun Run:
Join Us Tomorrow!
It’s not too late to join us for our Earth Day 5K on Randall’s Island tomorrow morning, Saturday, April 19th. You can run or walk and enter as an individual or as a team. The event is open to everyone, including all ages and abilities. And if you can’t make it, you can always make a donation to support us. We are close to reaching our fundraising goal, and your contribution can help us get across the finish line! RSVP
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Earth Day Extreme Heat Film Screening & Panel Discussion
WE ACT has once again teamed up with the Climate Film Festival for a heat-focused Earth Day event. This year we are screening The Heat Is On, which is an episode from PBS’s Weathered series, and Green Spaces Fight Climate Change in Cities, which is a mini-doc from NBCLX, followed by a panel discussion on extreme heat in New York City.
The event will be held at the Maysles Documentary Center, located at 343 Malcolm X Boulevard, on Tuesday, April 22nd from 6:00-8:00 PM. Confirmed panelists include Julia Eiferman, Senior Policy Advisor at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice; Jocelyn Rajaballey, Disability, Access, & Functional Needs Human Services Specialist at New York City Emergency Management Cooling Center Program; and Emily Walker, Senior Manager of External Affairs at the Natural Areas Conservancy. RSVP today – seating is limited!
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Earth Day Rally for the NY HEAT Act
Join us and climate justice activists from across the city for an Earth Day rally to demand the passage of the NY HEAT Act, the top climate priority in New York State. The event will begin at 12:00 PM on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday, April 22nd. The speakers will include the bill's lead sponsors, State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, along with other elected officials and distinguished guests. Sponsoring organizations include 350 Brooklyn, All Our Energy, Citizen Action of New York, Food & Water Watch, New York Communities for Change, New York Progressive Action Network, Renewable Heat Now, Rise and Resist, Sane Energy Project, Third Act! NYC, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice. RSVP
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Marileidy Pimentel Paniagua on an Earth Day Panel at the 2025 Environmental Justice Summit
As part of the 2025 Environmental Justice Summit co-hosted by the City College of New York and Columbia University, Marileidy Pimentel Paniagua will participate on a panel – Advocacy, Organizing, & Resistance: Conversations on Student Activism on Campus – at 12:30 PM on Tuesday, April 22nd in Room 107 of City College’s Shepard Hall. Fellow panelists will include NYLCV Offshore Wind Campaign Manager Julia Damiano, CCNY sustainability student & Little Manilla Queens Organizer Ezra Undag, Sunrise Columbia’s Leel Dias, and NYPIRG Project Coordinator Justin Yulo - who will moderate. RSVP
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Climate Justice Working Group:
Cumulative Impacts & Greening Harlem
Want to get more involved in the Climate Justice Working Group, a monthly gathering of members interested in discussing local climate issues and developing equitable solutions? Join us on Wednesday, 23rd at 6:00 PM at the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge (454 West 155th Street). We will give you an update on the cumulative impacts law we passed and how you can submit comments during the rulemaking phase. Then we’ll get our hands dirty making “seed balls” that you can take home and plant in a pot or in the ground somewhere in your community. This is a free, fun, hands-on way to celebrate Earth Day and get involved in the work we do! RSVP
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Peggy Shepard on a Panel at the Climate Resilience in NYC Symposium
Peggy Shepard will be on a panel on Thursday, April 24th at 11:30 AM discussing extreme heat, the deadliest impact of climate change, as part of the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities’ Climate Resilience Symposium at Cornell Tech’s Verizon Executive Education Center on Roosevelt Island. Fellow panelists include Laura Bozzi, Senior Director of Environmental Health Policy at NYC Health Department; Rick Cook, Founding Partner of COOKFOX Architects; Christopher Jones, Chief Engineer in Electric Operations at Consolidated Edison of New York; Melissa Umberger, Acting Assistant Commissioner of Resiliency and Recovery at NYC Emergency Management; and moderator Somini Sengupta, International Climate Reporter at the New York Times. RSVP
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WE ACT Around Town at the NYC DOT's Car-Free Earth Day
WE ACT will be tabling from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM in multiple locations on Saturday, April 26th as part of the New York City Department of Transportation’s Car-Free Earth Day celebration. Come join us on Broadway between West 17th & West 46th Streets; Dyckman Street between Broadway & La Marina/Inwood Hill Park; and Fifth Avenue between 40th & 50th Streets in Brooklyn.
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Celebrate Earth Day Advocating for the Beauty Justice Act in Albany
Are you concerned about the toxic chemicals commonly found in cosmetics and other personal care products? Did you know that many of the most toxic products are aggressively marketed towards people of color? Do you want to help do something about this? Travel up to Albany with us on Tuesday, April 29th at 6:00 AM to lobby for the New York State Beauty Justice Act. RSVP
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Apply for Cooling Assistance
As we get ready to hit the low-80s in mid-April, we wanted to share another reminder that New Yorkers can now apply for cooling assistance for this summer. You can check your eligibility and apply here. But do not wait because funds have run out early for the past three summers! Click here to download our 2025 Cooling Resources flyer. Apply
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WATCH: Our Cumulative Impacts Rulemaking Webinar
In case you missed it this week, here is a recording of our Environmental Justice Siting Law (better known as Cumulative Impacts Law) webinar. This law protects environmental justice communities from experiencing additional burdens caused by the siting of new polluting facilities in and near their already overburdened communities. And the webinar includes information and resources for you to engage in the rulemaking process for this law including submitting comments. Watch
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Uptown Chats Podcast’s Right Direction Mini-Series: Just Transition
Last year we ran an Uptown Chats podcast mini-series focusing on how the Biden administration – despite taking steps to advance an equitable transition to renewable energy – had also taken the U.S. energy policy in the Wrong Direction. We are now launching a new mini-series focusing on what the Right Direction should be for the U.S. energy policy. Lonnie and Jaron are kicking off the Right Direction mini-series by exploring what it means to promote a just energy transition with special guest Shalanda Baker, Vice Provost for Sustainability & Climate Action at the University of Michigan, and former Director of the Office of Energy Justice and Equity at the Department of Energy. Listen
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Cecil Corbin-Mark Fellowship:
Applications Close Soon
The deadline for applications for the 2025-26 Cecil Corbin-Mark Fellowship for Environmental Justice Leadership have been extended to May 2nd. This fellowship, named in honor of Cecil Corbin-Mark, who served as WE ACT’s Deputy Director before passing away in 2020, is a unique opportunity for young people to continue to follow in his footsteps and begin a career path to become the next generation of environmental justice leaders.
This year, we will be hosting one fellow based in Washington, DC, beginning in June and lasting for one year. Learn more about the fellowship and how to apply here. And read about the experiences of former Cecil Corbin-Mark Fellows in this blog post.
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Caleb Smith spoke at the FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program press conference earlier this week: "There are three BRIC-funded projects amounting to more than $70M that are now on the chopping block in Central and East Harlem: The Central Harlem Cloudburst Flood Mitigation Project, and two NYCHA projects. One at Clinton Houses and the other at NYCHA Polo Grounds Houses. Harlem and other environmental justice areas bear the brunt of extreme heat and flooding. The federal government is now refusing to honor the critical funding that it justly and legally awarded these communities, and we need our leadership to stand up for us.”
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