People Power: How Residents of Northern Manhattan are Creating an Energy Revolution Aurash Khawarzad
Originally published November 21, 2016 in Meeting of the Minds
T
he heat is on: This past July was the hottest month on record; the summer of 2016 was one of the five hottest the world has ever experienced. These trends have led President Obama to declare climate change a “terrifying” threat for humankind.
But, even as leaders take action, they have not done enough to address the issues of social inequality that make climate change a much more dangerous threat for the poor and working class. Consider this: After Hurricane Sandy, residents of Battery Park City– where the average household income is over $100,000—kept the lights on, thanks to their microturbines, solar panels, and combined heat and power systems. But those across Lower Manhattan in Chinatown and the Lower East Side—predominantly Asian-American and Latino neighborhoods where the average income is less than $30,000—lost power for weeks. For people in those neighborhoods, climate disasters make the daily struggle to find work, transportation and quality healthcare even more challenging. The disproportionate impact on low-income communities of color means that climate change is as much a political and economic challenge as it is an environmental one. That is why the people of Northern Manhattan–an area with a long history of environmental injustice–launched the Northern Manhattan Climate Action Plan (NMCA) in 2015. Created in partnership with WE ACT for Environmental Justice, a local non-profit organization that works to empower residents to improve 150