Coalition calls for investment in clean energy economy one year after historic march
NEW YORK, NY – A coalition of community organizations, labor groups, students and workers will gather today at St. Bart’s Church near Chase Bank’s Midtown headquarters at 11:30 a.m. and the Harlem State Office Building at 5 p.m. to publicly demonstrate against Chase Bank and other entities’ financial ties to climate change. The actions will highlight Chase’s exploitative role in funding the fossil fuel economy and predatory lending practices while calling for a clean energy economy that benefits low-income communities who are often hit hardest by the impacts of pollution and climate change.
“It comes as no surprise that Chase, one of the main contributors to the foreclosure crisis in my community of Queens, is also one of the largest investors in fossil fuel and coal,” said Jean Sassine, a member of New York Communities for Change. “Chase needs to invest in the future of our communities and the future of our environment.”
Both events are being held in conjunction with over 180 actions in 100 cities around the country as part of a National Day of Action, one year after the historic People’s Climate March, when 400,000 people crowded the streets of New York City to demand bold action on climate change from local and international leaders. These events also come in the buildup to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris later this year in December. At this meeting, world leaders will make critical decisions that will impact generations to come.
Demonstrators hope that these actions will strike a chord during negotiations in Paris and see it as a step forward for pushing for a clean energy economy aimed at creating green jobs, the development of new and innovative technologies and a sustainable infrastructure and an economy that will safeguard the health of future generations from climate disasters and impacts.
“We’ve already seen irreversible consequences with Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy,” said Stephanie Leone, an alumna with The New School. “We need leaders to step up and take action because these problems are not going to go away. The issues we face on American soil are a small piece in the global puzzle that will only worsen with continual standstill. It’s not enough to say you take climate change seriously — investing in clean energy and providing fair working wages will propel us into a healthier, imaginable future on earth.”
###
The People’s Climate Movement NYC is a coalition of frontline communities, local environmental justice and multi-issue organizations, national environmental organizations, labor unions and workers, students, people of faith, immigrants, and indigenous communities working together to demand bold action on climate and to show those in power that climate change is everyone’s issue. The coalition consists of the following organizations: AFSCME DC 37; ALIGN; Alliance for Climate Education; Community Voices Heard; Greenfaith; Make the Road New York; New York Communities for Change; NYC Environmental Justice Alliance; People’s Climate Arts; People’s Climate Movement NY; Rising Tide NY; Rockaway Wildfire; SEIU 32BJ; SEIU Local 1199; WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Working Families Organization.