Post-Paris, New Yorkers Won’t Be Stopped
06.2.17
New Yorkers responded to Donald Trump's reckless decision to abandon the Paris climate agreement the way we always do when our community is under attack: we stood up and fought back.
Just hours after the president's announcement, over 1,000 New Yorkers gathered in Foley Square to send a strong message to New York's elected leaders: With Trump in the White House, we need real climate leadership from New York more than ever.
As soon as Trump was done announcing his intentions, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo pledged to honor the Paris agreement. That's good, but their commitments amount to little more than affirming the state and city's existing climate goals. And with a Trump Administration intent on granting the fossil fuel industry’s every wish, that's simply not good enough.
This is unacceptable. And with virtually no chance at progress at the federal level, it's time for New York to make a real commitment to move off fossil fuels once and for all, and chart a course to quickly bring the state to 100% renewable energy. That must start by putting an immediate halt to any new fossil fuel projects. Governor Cuomo must lead the way, and it's up to us to make him.
How will we make this happen? The same way we banned fracking and stopped five different fracking infrastructure projects in the last few years – with a massive grassroots movement leading the way. Thursday was a great start. Together, with the New York Communities for Change, the People's Climate Movement of New York, Sane Energy Project, We Act for Environmental Justice and so many other groups, we're building the movement to get off fossil fuels.
Together, we'll continue to fight for climate justice. And we're going to win.
Printer-friendly version
