Gotham Gazette

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Opinion

Solar is Clean, Popular and Under Attack


solar panels house

Solar panel installation (SolarCity)


Let’s start with the good news.

Solar energy is growing and more popular than ever.

The amount of solar energy installed in the United States has quadrupled since 2010, generating enough energy to power 1 in 20 American homes.

In 2016, the United States witnessed its millionth solar installation and the industry expects to hit 2 million solar installations in just the next two years.

All this growth in solar power brings tangible benefits to local communities across New York.
Environmentally, solar power reduces the need for harmful fossil fuels and cuts pollution that science shows causes climate change. Here in New York, we know we need to act now to reduce the worst impacts of climate change. We already see its manifestations in hotter summers, wildfires, and more frequent extreme weather events.

Economically, solar power can lower energy bills over time as an energy source with zero fuel costs. It also creates local jobs. In 2015, solar employed over 8,200 people in New York. At the end of 2015, solar employed more Americans than the oil and gas extraction industry.

Furthermore, solar power fosters civic engagement between decision-makers and energy stakeholders, from homeowners to school principals and small business owners, creating more invested parties in the future of clean energy across New York.

Because of these benefits, solar power is tremendously popular across the political spectrum. Recent polls show that majorities of Republicans and Democrats support the advancement of clean energy.

Now here’s the bad news.

As solar power has grown, it has been attacked by entrenched energy interests who see rooftop solar as an existential threat to their bottom line.

A new report by Environment New York Research & Policy Center, Blocking the Sun, documents 17 fossil fuel-backed groups and electric utilities running some of the most aggressive campaigns to slow the growth of solar energy throughout the country.

Rather than value the full benefits of distributed solar energy, these utilities and their fossil fuel backers have attempted to cut credits to solar customers and charge them extra fees. In some states, they have even attempted to do away with renewable energy standards altogether.

The fact is we can’t maintain a status quo mostly filled with an energy portfolio of gas, coal, and nuclear power plants that threaten our environment and our health. We need to tap into solar and renewable energy sources on rooftops across New York and beyond.

Of the findings, the report documents how the Koch brothers have provided funding to the national fight against solar by funneling tens of millions of dollars through a network of opaque non-profits; the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has provided utility and fossil fuel interests with access to state legislatures and inspired anti-solar legislation in a group of states; utilities in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, West Virginia, California, and Illinois have undertaken extensive campaigns to revoke renewable energy policy or impose new charges on their solar customers.

In mid-2016, there were at least 84 ongoing policy actions in U.S. states that could impact the growth of solar energy, including limitations to net metering or new charges to make rooftop solar power less economically viable.

With all the advantages of solar energy, we can’t just turn our back on tapping the power of the sun. So far, New York leaders have stood up to those who have wanted to stop progress of rooftop solar. Let’s make sure they know how much support there is for solar power and continue to push back against attempts to stunt the growth of renewable energy.

***
Heather Leibowitz, Esq. is the Director of Environment New York, a statewide advocacy organization. On Twitter @EnvNY.

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The Fight Ahead for Our City’s Homeless Children


kids circle doe

(photo: @NYCschools)


As families across the city gather in their homes to celebrate the holidays, a record number of children -- more than 23,000 -- are currently living in homeless shelters in New York City.

Homelessness means much more than lacking a permanent place to lay your head every night, especially for children. The impacts of homelessness on young people are particularly devastating and go well beyond housing issues into health and education.

Recent local media coverage has chronicled the record high numbers of homeless students in schools throughout the five boroughs and the difficulties their parents face in meeting their personal needs and help them fulfill their academic potential. It is not that homeless students are any less capable than their peers.

Rather, the troubling disparities in performance are a direct result of the staggering barriers to physical and emotional well-being children face when they are homeless.

Citizens’ Committee for Children’s Community Risk Ranking, an annual report on children in all 59 community districts in New York City, ranks well-being across six key domains – economic security, housing, health, education, youth, family and community – and illustrates the compounding nature of risk factors. Communities that rank high-risk in one domain tend to rank high-risk in several others, multiplying the problems faced by children growing up in those neighborhoods and dramatically increasing their chances of very poor outcomes.

The risk ranking shines a light on the areas in the city that are still struggling to recover from the economic downturn, with median incomes among working poor families remaining stagnant while rents and overcrowding have continued to rise.

Such is the case in East Tremont in the Bronx, where one in three families are paying more than 50 percent of their income on rent, and families are three-and-a-half times more likely to enter the city’s homeless system than families citywide. In this neighborhood, children are not only facing obstacles in terms of housing conditions, but also regarding poor outcomes in education, health, youth risks, and crime, as well as a profound lack of economic security – all of which are proven to have a negative impact on their short- and long-term well-being.

The data is disturbing – but it also arms us with the facts we need to make sure we are comprehensively addressing children’s needs. When we know what children are up against, we are better equipped to help them and their families face the challenges head-on.

In fact, data from the Community Risk Ranking also points to communities where risks are low and children are thriving. This shows that poor outcomes can be turned around when efforts are made to ensure that New Yorkers have access to the services and supports that provide pathways to opportunities for children and their families.

We need to keep in mind both the needs of children as well as what works for them when the federal administration changes hands next month. There is no doubt that anticipated proposals would intensify the risks facing our city’s most vulnerable children.

Homeless children and their families stand to lose not only public housing or federal housing subsidies that can bring them more stability, but also many of the social safety net programs through which they receive health care coverage, food supports, or child care, and upon which their futures rely.

For example, if our city’s children lose access to the food stamps (SNAP benefits) that allow families to put food on the table for their children, the odds are great that their physical and mental health and academic performance will worsen. That is a cruel truth of poverty: Positively addressing one need does not necessarily impact others, but cutting off a resource for one need can have a devastating ripple effect.

So as we ring in the new year with family and friends, we must resolve to focus in 2017 on those more than 23,000 children who lack access to so much of what many of us take for granted. We must be ready to fight so that we have more resources to help them with, not less.

Fortunately, we have the information we need to lend our voices to children and families. We must commit to maintaining steady pressure on our federal, state, and city leaders to not only protect the programs and services these children rely upon but expand access to the services that have proven to help them thrive.

***
Jennifer March, PhD, is the executive director of Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York. On Twitter @CCCNewYork.

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The Holiday Season Opportunity to Bolster Our Local Businesses


espinal supermarket tour

Council Member Espinal, the author (middle), tours a local market


The holidays are my favorite time of year: a time when we can open ourselves up to one another and reflect on what makes us grateful. Whether through wishing a stranger a happy holiday, participating in charity, or simply sharing traditions with friends and family, the holidays are a time for community.

Yet, amid the joy and cheer that accompany the holiday season, the pressure to find perfect gifts for our loved ones while also balancing our checkbooks can be daunting. Especially when income inequality in New York City is at an all-time high and working people are struggling to get by, the sense of obligation to buy presents is often an added burden on already financially strained families.

Even with specific family situations being what they are, New York City consumers will spend a lot of money this holiday season. We live in a heavily consumerist culture, with pressure constantly upon us to buy more and more -- pressure that is even more present during the holiday season. Whether through the temptations of often sneaky “sales” in big-box stores or more modern techniques, such as the constant slew of advertisements targeted at us on our Facebook pages or in emails, large corporations are always trying to reach us; always trying to sell us the next big thing.

Big companies often do provide us with the stuff we need to live our unique lives, while also providing jobs for our families and neighbors. But corporations do not have to be our main providers and an over-reliance on their services does not offer the best economic opportunities for our city.

This holiday season there is again an important opportunity for us to create a stronger local economy by patronizing local businesses. That is why, as a City Council member, the chair of the Consumer Affairs committee, and a Brooklynite, I am urging my fellow New Yorkers to shop locally.

Look for items made in New York to encourage local manufacturing and skip the big malls for your local business corridors. You’ll be amazed at the variety and quality of goods available to you locally, if you look.

If you prefer online shopping, consider replacing amazon.com for madeinnyc.org, an online platform that directly connects New Yorkers with local manufacturers offering the latest in food, fashion, furnishings, and other products. There's nothing like shopping local for all your last-minute gifts, too.

One recent study found that for every $100 spent at a local business, $68 stays in the community. Yet, when the same amount of money is spent at a non-local business, it produces only $43 for the local community. That difference of $25 per $100 could be going to community businesses, which are often owned by families and employ neighborhood folk. Local ‘mom and pops’ have long been the backbone of our society -- they sustain families and provide jobs to community members. In fact, since 1990, small businesses alone have created 8 million jobs and most owners support paying above and raising the minimum wage.

These are key reasons to shop local this holiday season -- and beyond.

Small businesses no doubt contribute to the economic fabric and sustainability of our local communities. And, if that is not reason enough to support your local shops, consider this: a Harvard Business School Study found that CEOs make 350 times more than the average worker. Income inequality is one of the most crucial and wide-reaching issues of our day. We saw this as a major theme in our recent presidential election, both in the Democratic primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and in the general election with the nomination of Donald Trump -- a radical rejection of the political status quo -- because it spoke to many Americans’ innermost economic and social grievances.

Each of us has ample opportunities to make personal choices that hold large corporations accountable and bolster our local businesses. As chair of the City Council Committee on Consumer Affairs, and as a proud Brooklynite, I urge New Yorkers to spread the cheer to their local retailers and shop locally this holiday season.

***
Rafael Espinal is a New York City Council member representing parts of Bushwick, East New York and Oceanhill-Brownsville in Brooklyn. As Chair of the Committee on Consumer Affairs, Council Member Espinal works to enact legislation that protects consumers, strengthens businesses, and empowers New Yorkers. On Twitter @RLEspinal.

***
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