Protecting Our Environment: Environmental Justice & Climate Change

May 23, 2021 Guest User

For us at Project by Project, we believe tackling environmental issues is about more than just reducing our carbon footprint, but doing so alongside economic and social empowerment and equity. With our 2021 campaign of Asian Americans & the Environment, we plan to address both Environmental Justice and Climate Change, two areas that are closely intertwined with each other.

1. Environmental Justice

1 in 5 Asian Americans in NYC is in poverty.

By fighting for Environmental Justice, we believe in the right to a safe and healthy environment for everyone, as well as a fair distribution of environmental benefits and burdens. Today, socioeconomic status plays a significant role in whether or not one has access to environmental health. Far too often, economic growth and “green” development come at the expense of poor and disadvantaged communities. Urban planning and environmental gentrification continue to disproportionately harm Asian American residents in New York today.

a. Urban Planning & Development

Zoning and urban planning often lead to urban fragmentation and inequitable development.

In New York, Asian Americans are exposed to 2x as much PM2.5 pollution as are white residents. In addition, 1.2 million API residents live in areas with higher-than-average PM2.5 concentrations from on-road transportation (think congested highways serving suburban commuters).

From the Union of Concerned Scientists: “The inequitable exposure of New York’s communities of color to transportation pollution reflects decades of decisions about transportation, housing, and land use. Decisions about where to place highways, where to invest in public transportation, and where to build housing have all contributed to a transportation system that concentrates emissions on communities of color. In many cases, local, state, and federal transportation policies have left communities of color with inadequate access to public transportation, divided by highways, and breathing air polluted by congested highways serving suburban commuters.”

In 2019, over 84,000 people applied when 231 affordable apartments opened up at the One Flushing complex. 56% of the roughly 250,000 residents living in Community District 7 — which spans Flushing and adjacent neighborhoods such as College Point — are rent-burdened, meaning they spend more than 45% of their income on rent. However, despite these demographics, the city passed a massive waterfront Flushing development plan in 2020 with no enforced affordable housing clause, no plans to protect its longtime low-income residents, and no plans to address the pollution in Flushing Creek. While it’s important to improve the city’s infrastructure, accountability needs to be held during both the planning and construction phases.

In Manhattan, south of Central Park, Chinatown and Lower East Side are the only last working-class neighborhoods left. This is largely due to the community persistently rallying to protect their neighborhoods. However, the latest development of luxury buildings in Two Bridges represents what will be a drastic rise in the cost of living across Chinatown and LES. Chinatown Manhattan is the 2nd most at-risk neighborhood in the borough to lose affordable housing. In fact, 1157 building units are at risk of losing government subsidies for affordable housing, despite there being 1011 new Chinatown residential units in 2017. Long-time residents, most of which are elderly, will be displaced, without additional affordable housing.

b. Environmental Gentrification

In response to climate change, wealthy households move inland to avoid new flood warnings and developers stray away from coastal property. Government programs similarly build new climate-resilient infrastructure. However, “green” development often comes at the expense of poor and disadvantaged communities.

Going “green” at the expense of our API community is not going green at all.

A new era of “climate urbanism” has led to a wave of city investments to improve climate resilience. However, building new structures that can withstand the impacts of intensifying storms, flooding, erosion, and sea-level rise may inadvertently pose new threats to low-income communities of color. Planning practices and policies need to radically change to include vulnerable populations.

Sunset Park, AKA Brooklyn’s Chinatown, is a waterfront neighborhood where the API community represents 30% of the population. As climate change intensifies, Sunset Park grows increasingly vulnerable to coastal flooding and will need to take drastic development measures to survive. In 2020, the “Special Sunset Park Innovation District'' rezoning plan, centered around an industrial complex by the waterfront known as “Industrial City,” was on the brink of being finalized, having received approval from the City Planning Commission. But while the proposal marketed that it would boost economic empowerment, pointing to 20,000 new jobs and partnerships with colleges, its mega-development plan for new retail, educational, and office spaces failed to address displacement risk and implement any accountability measures.

Communities organizers, public testimonials of over 200 local residents, and finally a letter signed by 10 lawmakers led developers to finally nix their rezoning proposal in late 2020. With the power of community organizing, neighborhoods like Sunset Park can steer clear of development-at-all-cost initiatives, and focus on plans that are inclusive and fair. Alternative development plans, organized by grassroots community organizers, are beginning to take form, signaling a brighter and more equitable future for Sunset Park.

Climate change is displacing communities of color.

As climate change becomes a growing factor in where we live, high-income households are moving away from their previous coastal properties more inland into communities of color that may face a new threat of gentrification and displacement. Even luxury development companies are trending more inland to avoid climate change-related expenses, like flood insurance and erosion prevention. As this trend continues, inland neighborhoods that are home to many API communities, most notably Fresh Meadows, Briarwood, and Bensonhurst, will face environmental gentrification.

2. Climate Change is Real

Carbon dioxide levels have increased from 280 ppm to 414 ppm in the past 150 years.

The surface temperature of Earth has warmed in the last 40 years, with the acidity of the ocean increasing by 30% and sea levels rising by 2x the rate in the past two decades.

Climate change represents a threat to our home and a threat to our everyday lives. Droughts, which lead to wildfires, and other results of rising temperatures have exacerbated respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Changes in rainfall and severe weather events have led to changes to our ecosystem, which has also increased food insecurity and food and waterborne illnesses. Reducing waste and conserving energy and water are important first steps to protecting Mother Earth - but all of us need to make more noise and do our parts as environmentalists.

Asian Americans are often left out of the narrative at environmental organizations, despite research showing that we care a lot - in fact, 70% of Asian Americans consider themselves as environmentalists, vs. the average 41%. Christina Choi from the NRDC spoke on why the environmental movement needs to stop ignoring Asian Americans, and we completely agree.

Get Involved

Project by Project’s 2021 campaign champions Asian Americans & the Environment, and we welcome you to get involved! Aside from volunteering with us, you can also support these NYC-based organizations that are actively addressing environmental issues today.

Think!Chinatown

Our 2021 Beneficiary Partner, Think!Chinatown is here to listen, to respond, and to build Manhattan Chinatown’s capacities as a strong and vibrant immigrant neighborhood of NYC. They plan to combat increasing gentrification and champion Environmental Justice by building out a civics team to engage with and educate the Chinatown community on these issues. In addition, their mission is to foster intergenerational community through neighborhood engagement, storytelling, and the arts.

They lead several initiatives to support Manhattan Chinatown.

Rescuing Leftover Cuisine (RLC)

Rescuing Leftover Cuisine tackles food waste and food insecurity by rescuing leftover cuisine from businesses and donating them to soup kitchens, shelters, and other services. They always need volunteers to help pick up and drop off these extra meals -- these rescue trips are often as short as a 5 minute walk! RLC was also PbP NY’s 2019 Beneficiary Partner.

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