Democratic New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand want to earmark $1 million to help a politically-connected environmentalist organization build an “environmental justice” center in New York City.
The two senators have requested an earmark to the fiscal year 2024 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill that would send $1 million to WE ACT, a Harlem-based environmentalist and advocacy group, to help with the construction of WE ACT’s “environmental justice” center. President Joe Biden appointed WE ACT co-founder Peggy Shepard to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, and the organization reported $16.2 million in revenue in 2021 against $3.8 million in total expenses, according to its tax filings from that year.
“The Center will be a convening space and technical assistance hub for environmental justice organizations and other grassroots advocates,” according to WE ACT’s website. “With a permanent space to call our own, equipped with the technology for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) education and citizen science, we’ll also scale up our community-based education, workforce development and civic engagement efforts that directly empower Northern Manhattan residents.” (RELATED: Adam Schiff Earmarked Millions To His Defense Contractor Donors)
Perry: “That we don’t recognize that there is a problem with the earmark process in Washington, D.C. is a sad testimonial” https://t.co/SQZlPfmbJw
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The environmental justice center, once completed, will mobilize more than 3,000 voters around environmental issues through “non-partisan get-out-the-vote efforts,” according to WE ACT’s website.
The organization has helped lead protest marches, launched several policy advocacy campaigns and signed a May letter to Biden urging him to not give into House Republicans’ push to work permitting reform provisions into the debt ceiling bill.
Beyond environmental advocacy, the organization also engages in efforts to boost voter turnout. Its website features an entire page dedicated to sharing information about how to register to vote, how to submit absentee ballots and key dates for elections.
The organization believes that “climate change will have an unequal impact on communities of color because it is a threat multiplier, meaning it will layer upon existing public health, economic and racial injustices in the United States and around the world,” according to the section of WE ACT’s website that covers its views “climate justice.”
Notably, two members of the organization’s board of directors work for other environmentalist organizations. Eric Goldstein, the New York City environment director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, sits on WE ACT’s board, and Margot Brown, the Environmental Defense Fund’s senior vice president of justice & equity, also is a member of the board of directors.
Schumer’s office, Gillibrand’s office and WE ACT all did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
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