Audience: Low-Income Communities

This case study summarizes some of the key points from NY Renews’ evidence-based approach to winning the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act, pulling from interviews with organizers and advocates, coalition documents, and news coverage.

A multi-racial coalition focused on organizing and escalating tactics helped defeat the Williams Pipeline: The Stop the Williams Pipeline coalition won by building, organizing, and activating a large and intense base of opposition targeted at the key decision-maker, Governor Andrew Cuomo. 

At least 7 in 10 New Jerseyans support each of the six key components of the Clean Energy Equity Act, a bill that aims to help low-income New Jersey families benefit from solar, storage and energy efficiency.

     
Review of research on the equity implications of a clean energy transition (how such a transition could negatively impact some groups and communities), and ‘just transition’ policies meant to abate those effects. The literature suggests that energy and climate policies and programs must specifically embed equity and social justice within climate change mitigation goals and emphasize commitments to job training and economic development to support those folks adversely affected by the transition away from fossil fuels to new, renewable sources of energy. (As Climate Justice Alliance phrases it, “Transition is inevitable. Justice is not.”)    

In a new report produced with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Synapse Energy Economics, RAP and Community Action Partnership take an in-depth look at the disparate impacts of electric and natural gas infrastructure on economic, social, and health outcomes — and consider how to ensure that a clean-energy future is a more equitable future.

Recommendations from messaging research about climate change and the Green New Deal and how to communicate and engage people in the rural America include:

Every message must be embedded with Appalachian values (such as kinship, independence, resiliency, and resourcefulness) – whether it focuses on jobs or on health.
Show respect for the people who worked in coal and what they built.
Name entities behind the problem. Use the active voice.
Avoid alarmist messages. Show what the community gains. Offer local solutions that connect to regional values. Give examples of local people doing the work.