The article is from A&B issue 6|23
New York City recently passed Intro 470-A, a law that accelerates the phasing out of furnaces burning No. 4 fuel oil. The new law is linked to the topic of environmental discrimination—an issue without which there can be no discussion in the States about effective solutions to the climate crisis.
With this law, the city will accelerate the phase-out and forever end the use of No. 4 fuel oil, which is the most polluting oil burned in the city. The accelerated phase-out will prevent the emission of thousands of tons of many harmful air pollutants.
This law will dramatically improve our city's air quality—especially around New York City's hundreds of public schools," said City Council member and initiator of the new law, James Gennaro, in an official statement.
For New York activists and officials, the fight against climate change is inextricably linked to environmental discrimination against racial minorities, and the most famous agitator of the issue is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who as a councilwoman represents the New York City boroughs of Queens and the Bronx. The second equally important person, although less well known, is precisely James Gennaro. Gennaro, is a scientist, led the New York City Council on environmental policy and sustainability for years, served as chairman of the Environmental Commission, and is the author of many landmark pieces of legislation, including more than fifty local environmental and public health laws.
New York has been an American leader in pushing new legislation for urban management of the climate crisis—the reason? It still has the most to do!
Photo credit: Bo Ponomari © Pexels
Both AOC and James Gennaro know and believe that the path to optimal and sustainable legislative and urban solutions is through changes in laws regarding access to clean water, air, light and acoustic comfort, collectively called environmental racism. In practice, it's a set of rules, regulations, policies or government or corporate decisions that strike at the quality of life of black and brown communities by exposing them to various types of pollution. This means, for example, urban land use under loosely enforced zoning and environmental regulations. As a result, communities of color are disproportionately exposed to dangerous toxins.
Highway construction is a crowning example of environmental racism. More than fifty years ago in Syracuse, state and federal officials built the massive Interstate Highway 81. The construction of the 1.4-mile-long overpass devastated the community where working-class black residents of Syracuse lived, displacing more than 1,300 families from the area. Since 1968, Interstate 81 has been the main artery of interstate transportation, polluting the surviving parts of the neighborhood with exhaust fumes. Interstate 81 has also contributed to lowering land values, accelerating industrial development and perpetuating segregation and poverty.
A good New York example of the same issue is Mott Haven within the South Bronx. This area, which stretches for only a dozen blocks, is 97 percent inhabited by Hispanics and African-Americans, who are exposed to about 60 percent more pollution than they generate themselves. Mott Haven is called Asthma Alley because it has some of the highest levels of air pollution in the United States.
Movements such as Black Lives Matter and Occupy have pro-environmental overtones, in the sense that, starting from economic inequality, they protest—one of the reasons for the inequality in access to clean air, light or green space
photo: Life Matters © Pexels
New York's environmental discrimination is firmly rooted in the city's history. Environmental activism began in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. Julie Sze, a professor at the University of California, Davis, published a book in 2007 about the environmental justice movement in New York, titled „Noxious New York: The Racial Politics of Urban Health and Environmental Justice.” The book examines the tense relationship between urban planning and public health in the 1980s and 1990s in four communities: West Harlem, South Bronx, and the Sunset Park and Williamsburg neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Through extensive field interviews and in-depth analysis, Sze places New York City's environmental activities from this period in a global and historical context, dating back to the sanitation movement of the 19th century. New York was growing rapidly, becoming the country's largest city in 1790. Urban planners at the time did not consider access to clean air or water. To this day, New York is still known for its small, dark and uncomfortable apartments and garbage piling up on the streets of less wealthy neighborhoods.
In recent years, New York has seen a surge in legislative initiatives related to environmental justice. New laws are fueled by statewide and global goals to address the climate crisis. In 2019, for example, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) was passed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New York State. An environmental justice advisory group was established to ensure that all New Yorkers reap the economic and environmental benefits of New York's transition to zero emissions. Intro 470-A is a direct result of the above legislative atmosphere.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, in signing Intro 470-A on March 6, 2023, pointed out that nearly 72 percent of buildings using No. 4 fuel oil are located in communities facing environmental injustice.
Too often, people in low-income communities suffer the most from pollution and climate change. This bill addresses these disparities and helps improve air quality for all New Yorkers.
Roughly 3,200 buildings located primarily in Manhattan use No. 4 fuel oil, of which about 1,650 use it exclusively. Other boilers use a combination of natural gas with No. 2 and No. 4 oil. Currently, boilers using fossil fuels require a DEP permit to operate. It is issued for three years, after which time the DEP conducts a new inspection and uses this opportunity to inform building owners about new energy solutions.
Bronx, a borough of New York City— in the US, the management of the climate crisis begins with talk of environmental discrimination; the question arises, is this a viable approach to the issue or a political ploy?
Photo credit: Paul © Pexels
New York City is fond of its title as a national leader in environmental trends and successful pursuit of the global goal of zero emissions in 2050. The sad truth is that at the root of this position lies the greatest backwardness when it comes to sustainable energy management. It's also the city where the problems of all American cities are most glaringly evident. The positive—albeit strenuous—changes pushed by people like James Gennaro show that climate protection starts with very basic life-improvement measures, and that you can't talk about the health of the planet without talking about the health of all its inhabitants. Economic and racial inequality is ultimately the result of the same one-sided thinking that led to the climate crisis and energy imbalance.
