Querida Comunidad,

Happy New Year! As we welcome 2024, we also approach a momentous occasion that resonates deeply with our mission at UPROSE – Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This weekend, as we honor Dr. King's legacy, it's a poignant reminder of our ongoing struggle for justice, equality, and the rights of every member of our community. In the spirit of Dr. King’s vision and our commitment to environmental and social justice, UPROSE is proud to share our New Year resolutions, each deeply rooted in community empowerment and the principles of just transition.



Our 2024 Continuing Resolutions:

1. Strengthen Base Building: Deepen meaningful community engagement which

amplifies local frontline solutions, that address renewable energy, access to drinkable

water, food sovereignty and wellness in the fight for climate justice.

2. Promote and operationalize Just Transition Practices: This year, we aim to

implement and advocate for just sustainable practices that protect our environmental

health while supporting our local economy.

3. Advocate for Policy Change: Work relentlessly to change the rules and ensure

policy decisions reflect the needs and aspirations of our community.

4. Build Intergenerational Power: We are dedicated to building community power

and creating popular education tools about the importance of climate justice and a just

transition, and the tools necessary to make a difference.

5. Strengthen Social Cohesion: Embrace Joy and Wellness by creating spaces to

share stories and ancestral knowledge that ensure our community not only adapts but

thrives in a rapidly changing world.

6. Training Youth Leadership: Continuing the legacy of the Black Panthers, Young

Lords, AIM, Civil Rights Movement and others to ensure our young people have

everything they need to address the challenges they’ve inherited now.

7. Center Arts & Culture: We resolve to ensure that our initiatives are accessible,

inclusive, reflecting, celebrating and supporting the complexity of our diverse

community.

As we embark on this journey together in 2024, UPROSE invites you, our valued members and supporters, to join us in these resolutions. Let's work hand in hand, in the spirit of Dr. King’s enduring legacy, to create a more sustainable, and just world. We are excited to see what we can achieve together in the year ahead.

Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our collective calling. 

Dreaming Collectively,

Elizabeth and the UPROSE team

Getty Images

Accelerate Now! The Fossil Fuel End Game 2.0

“The relentless impact of peaker plants on our communities is a stark reminder of the urgency to transition to clean energy. As we continue to fight for environmental justice, our message is clear: the time for action is now. Every day we delay, our communities suffer. We must prioritize frontline solutions to ensure a just and healthy future," said Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director of UPROSE.

January, 10, 2024

Clean Energy Group, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, THE POINT CDC, UPROSE | The PEAK Coalition

New York City has the densest concentration of urban power plants in the US, impacting the health of 750,000 New Yorkers, and producing some of the country’s most expensive electricity.

The PEAK Coalition—UPROSE, THE POINT CDC, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA), New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), and Clean Energy Group (CEG)—aims to end long-standing pollution from fossil fuel peaker power plants and the negative effects on New York City’s most climate-vulnerable people.

In this report, the PEAK Coalition documents progress made since the coalition was founded and examines the steps taken by state, city, utility, and energy industry stakeholders to hasten or delay the shift from polluting power plants to clean, zero-emissions alternatives. The report details evidence of encouraging progress, with 700 MW of the city’s peaking capacity fully retired and announced plans for the retirement of an additional 3,300 MW before 2040, representing nearly two-thirds of the city’s fossil peaking capacity. However, the transition has not progressed at the pace needed to protect the health of environmental justice communities and meet the state’s climate goals. More than 75 percent of the city’s fossil peaker capacity may remain online and operating beyond 2025, when stricter peaker emissions limits are intended to take full effect.

The report discusses the negative impacts these power plants are having on surrounding communities, highlights challenges and barriers impeding the speed of the transition, and recommends pathways forward to accelerate the transition from peaker plants to clean alternatives. Read the full report here:

*UPCOMING WEBINAR: Report authors will discuss their findings in a webinar on Tuesday, February 6 – Register here.  

UPCOMING EVENTS

RSVP Here



Educators: join us for professional development workshops during our annual day of action, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Examine how you can use art in your classroom to draw students’ attention to climate change and inspire them to pursue environmental justice. 

Join educators Niles Mattier and Babs Peisch in a guided gallery experience highlighting artworks that explore environmental injustice. Plus, participate in a sustainability-focused art-making workshop with visual artist Rene Cuenca. The gallery experiences and workshops will be repeated in the morning and afternoon.



At 1 pm, attend a talk and Q&A with Elizabeth Yeampierre, an attorney, a climate justice leader, and the executive director of UPROSE, Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community-based organization. UPROSE promotes sustainability and resiliency in Sunset Park through community organizing, education, Indigenous and youth leadership development, and cultural and artistic expression.

RSVP Here for Friday, January 19, 2024

WHAT WE ARE READING

Puerto Ricans Are Among the Most Worried About Climate Change

Article Link

UPROSE is an intergenerational, multi-racial, nationally-recognized, women of color-led, grassroots organization that promotes sustainability and resiliency through community organizing, education, leadership development and cultural/artistic expression in Brooklyn, New York.

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