Activists urge Congressman Jeffries to support a fossil-fuel-free Green New Deal, sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge
NEW YORK – Local environmental activists from New York City today called on Congressman Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to publicly endorse a fossil-fuel-free Green New Deal resolution and sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge.
Friends of the Earth Action, New York City Communities for Change and 350 Brooklyn delivered petition signatures to Rep. Jeffries’ Coney Island office floating in a tub of water, symbolizing the impacts New York City will continue to face – more superstorms and sea level rise – because of the climate crisis.
Congressman Jeffries is one of the only representatives from the New York City Congressional delegation who has not publicly endorsed a Green New Deal, despite his district including Coney Island, which was hard hit by Hurricane Sandy.
While Rep. Jeffries has opposed new fossil fuel infrastructure in New York, like the Williams fracked gas pipeline, he has not yet supported New York’s Community and Climate Protection Act, nor has he signed the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge.
“Congressman Jeffries must hear the voices of New Yorkers and throw his support behind the Green New Deal,” said Jo Cutrona, Friends of the Earth Action’s New York grassroots organizer. “As a frontline community, our city must set a precedent and we demand that all our elected officials sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge to keep dirty fossil fuel money out of politics. The future of our climate is in too much peril to take a pass on these important policies.”
“We really need Congressman Jeffries to become a leader on climate change,” said Norman Frazier, board member of New York Communities for Change. “Areas like Brownsville, where I live, are projected to experience many more extreme heat days if we continue polluting at the current rate. Already, air conditioning racks up high electric bills in the summer. Besides, I know plenty of folks in the area that could benefit from good green jobs that will come from a Green New Deal.”
“As someone representing a beachfront community that was battered during Hurricane Sandy, Jeffries should know as well as anyone how serious the climate emergency is,” said Robert Wood, 350 Brooklyn organizer. “He should also know that the Green New Deal is the only framework comprehensive enough to fix it. Every day he delays throwing his weight behind this bold resolution is a disservice to his constituents. There’s no time left to haggle over middling solutions. We need action—big action—and we need Jeffries on board to make it happen.”
Communications Contact: Patrick Davis, (202) 222-0744, pdavis@foe.org
Organizing Contact: Jo Cutrona, (774)-278-8393, jcutrona@foe.org