RESILIENCE PAC LAUNCH

NEW YORKERS LAUNCH RESILIENCE PAC - FIRST POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE DESIGNED TO ELECT CHAMPIONS OF CLIMATE RESILIENCE 

For Immediate Release: March 18, 2021
For more information contact: info@resiliencepac.org

Resilience PAC Is A Member-Driven Political Action Committee Led By Experts In Urban Planning, Climate Policy, Communications, and Resilience, and Will Focus on Electing Leaders Who Put Climate Change and Equity Front and Center

Responding to Climate Change Provides a Historic Opportunity to Make New York Better in Both Good Times and Bad, For all its Residents

New York, NY - A broad coalition of New Yorkers today announced the launch of the Resilience Political Action Committee  - the city’s first PAC focused exclusively on building climate resilience and ensuring an equitable and expansive adaptation to climate change.  The PAC will support candidates who are dedicated to helping New York City’s residents, communities and neighborhoods thrive - not just survive - amid the growing challenges of climate change.  The first round of endorsements will be announced in April, and the organization will support candidates in the race for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, borough president and city council.  

The Covid-19 pandemic has once again revealed that the most vulnerable communities are the hardest hit when a disaster strikes New York City.  The very same dynamics could be seen during previous calamities such as Hurricane Sandy and the great recession.  History will continue to repeat itself unless we elect leaders who understand that we must prioritize policies and infrastructure that will ameliorate the immediate impacts of disasters, while also spurring job growth, creating more green space and affordable housing, improving transportation and restoring our ecology.  Our leaders can’t just solve for climate change - they must consider the collateral benefits that can be achieved while avoiding the catastrophic costs of inaction.

The New York City Panel on Climate Change projects that we will see three to six feet of sea level rise.  If left unchecked, that will be exacerbated by rising temperatures and inequity.  We know that we must solve all these issues, to solve one.  We will achieve this by supporting candidates who commit to

1) Embed climate science and equity in all land use policies and capital planning,

2) Prioritize disinvested communities, and

3) Make government actions transparent and accountable.  The organization’s full policy platform can be found here and below. The candidate questionnaire which will guide initial support can be found here.  And a list of the founding members can be found here.  

The PAC will support candidates running for city council and citywide office. Endorsements will be made in two stages to support a range of candidates who demonstrate a commitment to pursuing proactive policies and investments that facilitate positive and equitable adaptation to climate change across all of New York City. The PAC will make endorsements in all citywide elections. For borough and city council elections, it will make endorsements in districts where a candidate and/or a local organization invite us to do so. Learn more about the endorsement process here.

Quotes:

"Making our city safer from a changing climate is not long-term planning any more -- it's an immediate need, every bit as urgent as making our streets safer and addressing the pandemic," said Rit Aggarwala, Senior Fellow at the Urban Tech Hub at the Jacobs Cornell-Technion Institute at Cornell Tech and former Director of the Mayor' Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability.  "The good news is that resilience is also a core part of building back better, so it can also improve daily life in neighborhoods across the city."

"New York, like my hometown of New Orleans, is a city surrounded by water, directly in the crosshairs of climate change,” said Jeff Hebert, President of HR&A Advisors and former New Orleans Chief Resilience Officer.  “We need to respond to this existential threat in a way that doesn't just maintain the status quo, but builds New York into a stronger, more equitable, more livable city.  Resilience PAC will help elect leaders who are committed to doing this, through integrated planning and long term thinking.  We're never going to solve the climate crisis, our house crises, our crisis of inequality and all the other challenges we face if we don't recognize that they are inextricably linked and the only way to solve one is to solve them all together."

“Communities from Staten Island to Queens are already experiencing regular flash floods, hotter summers and less predictable weather,” said Amy Chester. “Candidates need to understand the complexity of these issues—before they become elected officials—so they can take action on Day 1.”

“Living on the lower east side waterfront, I saw first hand the damage, panic and loss experienced in 2012 by Hurricane Sandy. What followed were days of no power, water or electricity and over eight years later, the enduring fear and loss experienced by NYCHA and affordable housing communities hasn't gone away. Our lives and the future of our families literally depends upon immediate action towards making NYC resilient before it’s too late.” said Frank Avila-Goldman

“Through embedding resilience and equity in all policies, plans, and capital projects, our elected leaders can ensure that New York City is defined by its successes, not by its disasters. In the middle of a pandemic, nine years after Hurricane Sandy and with regular flooding and heat waves experienced by many neighborhoods, we are out of balance," said Kate Boicourt. "We need leadership that is committed to implementing a vision of a thriving City for generations to come."

"As a Staten Island resident who experienced Superstorm Sandy, I know firsthand how crucial resilience is for our city,” said Victoria Cerullo. “I am proud to be part of this group working to educate and elect representatives who understand the issues and will act equitably to ensure all boroughs of New York City are resilient to climate change."

"A robust recovery from the Covid-19 public health crisis would build new job markets, infrastructures, outdoor spaces, and neighborhoods that are calibrated for success in the coming decades. The resilience PAC has provided a framework for a future-looking mayoral agenda to find such opportunities through fair and purposeful change that will both improve daily life in New York and protect the city from current and future climate events." said Lizzie Hodges.