Brownfields redevelopment: “real” and “vast”

Panel titled "Renewable Energy Development on Brownfield Sites: Financial Incentives for Renewable Energy"

Monday, 9/9/2024 | NEW YORK CITY

On Monday at the New York City Bar Association, the New York City Brownfields Partnership hosted the inaugural Innovative Development Summit. The benefits of brownfields development are enormous, as it transforms space from a health-drain into an enhancer of health and economy. Whether the brownfield is a Superfund site or not, whether it is in the mountains or in the middle of Brooklyn, the mission is the same: to clean up a mess and guide the place toward productive and healthy use. I came to this event with a lot of curiosity about how this endeavor would be approached innovatively. What I found was a coming-together of environmental lawyers, government workers, consultants, private sector businesses, and community based organizations. 

The one-day summit featured panels happening in parallel across two rooms. It was opened and closed by the Executive Director of the NYBP, Laura Senkevitch and consultant Ezgi Karayel and began with the first sessions, focused on showing changes to brownfields projects through the eyes of lawyers and consultants, and the other focusing on Articles 320 and 321 of Local Law 97, New York City’s sustainable buildings law. The policy panel featured Ms. Karayel alongside George Duke of firm Connell Foley and Larry Schnapf of Schnapf Law. The LL97 panel featured David Sivin and Erik Draijer of PVE, and Raymond Pomeroy of Gibbons. The policy panel dove immediately into the weeds, with lawyers conveying their textual and relevant findings to practitioners. The renewable energy panel featured wisdom spanning how carbon offsets are treated in LL97 (they aren’t), whether buildings are taking LL97 seriously (big ones certainly are), if net zero is even possible (impossible without a net zero grid), the relationship between commercial tenants, their ESG policies, and the buildings they inhabit (companies with Scope 3 GHG targets don’t want to have space in a building with poor energy performance), and where utility scale batteries, a limitation, might go in NYC (peaker plants, is one idea).

After a short coffee break, the next panels, were on sustainable remediation techniques for contaminated sites, such as using colloidal activated carbon to remediate PFAS-contaminated lands around airports where PFOA/PFOS AFFF foam was used in practice or training, as well as the Green and Sustainable Remediation (GSR) tools SEFA and SiteWise. The competing panel was on renewable energy development on brownfield sites, focusing on the redevelopment effort at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal and Ravenswood Generation Station, and another panel on financial incentives for renewable energy. The former panel features engineers from firms Langan, GZA, Regenesis, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The renewable energy panels features presenters from Matrix New World Engineering, Equinor, Rise Light & Power, GEI, and law firms Connell Foley and Gibbons. With an estimated 57,000 PFAS-contaminated sites in the US and over 17,000 in Europe, the technologies for remediating this kind of brownfield are growing fast under the pressure. Another clear point is that the NY State DEC has well-developed resources for “GSR and Climate Resiliency in Environmental Cleanups.” Though this author did not get to attend the panel on the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal and Ravenswood Generating Station, the information shared in the following panel on renewable energy financing was an innovative blend of new technology (electrochromatic glass), the integration between policy and engineering (goals set by the State’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, or CLCPA, the City’s goals, and if they can be met), and the opportunity space for Renewable Energy Facilities, or REFs, which is a “real property used for a renewable energy system or storage before delivering to bulk transmission.” These so-called REFs have recently been added to the New York State Brownfields Cleanup Program (BCP).  

The lunch keynote speaker was Ariel Iglesias, the Director of EPA Region 2 Land, Chemicals and Redevelopment Division, a treat to host someone whose work spans such a wide region such as Region 2, which includes NY, NJ, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and eight Tribal nations (Cayuga Nation, Onondaga Nation, Oneida Indian Nation, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, Seneca Nation of Indians, Shinnecock Indian Nation, Tonawanda Seneca Nation, Tuscarora Nation). His group provides seed money through grants (applications for funding from EPA for brownfields projects in FY25 accepted until 11/14/2024), technical assistance through New Jersey Institute of Technology, and training to build local capacity. Since the EPA’s brownfields program was established in 1995, it has given out more than $1 billion in grants, and has changed how communities address and manage contaminated areas. Its goal is to revitalize communities and promote job creation. 

After lunch, conference attendees were offered sessions on Environmental Construction, focusing on stormwater management, and a session from the NYC office of environmental remediation (NYCOER) providing guidance toward working with the office for remediation reporting, as well as updates on their Clean Soil Bank, with its stockpile located at 830 Forbell Street in East New York. Stormwater experts were from firms Tenen Environmental, Blue World Construction, Liro-Hill, GWTT, and SPR Law. NYC’s office of environmental remediation shared its “E-Designation,” which is a “particular notice of the presence of an environmental requirement on a particular tax lot pertaining potential hazardous materials contamination, ambient noise, or air quality.” These are commonly industrial manufacturing, gas stations, dry cleaning, auto repair shops, and places with underground storage tanks or petroleum spills. The Clean Soil Bank is available to receive deposits of clean soil or retrieve clean soil for local projects. The stormwater management panel was largely a technical discussion about the intricacies of water management.

The final two sessions were about soil disposal, a session led by Joel Rogers from Factor Group and Kevin McCarty from GEI. As much as I would have liked to attend both of these panels, I had to choose one, and I chose the other, on community engagement and stakeholder collaboration, a panel moderated by NYBP Executive Director Laura Senkevitch, and featuring Stephen Holley from AKRF, Lee Ilan from NYC OER, Malcolm Punter from Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement (HCCI), and Reece Brosco from Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (YMPJ). YMPJ had recently been mentioned during the lunch keynote, as it just received a half-million dollar grant from the EPA to support their work in community development through the community change grant program. HCCI demonstrated its aptitude in providing affordable housing and doing people-powered work in Harlem for over 30 years, and has been involved in the Brownfield Opportunity Area program through the New York Department of State.

It was said that brownfields is a very interdisciplinary field and one can clearly see that through the panels and presenters at this inaugural summit. Brownfields clearly calls for cohesive teamwork and communication. With the deep well of meaning that is available when doing this cleanup work, brownfields redevelopment practitioners have significant motivation to pull from, and with support from communities, private sector, and government, real progress can be made toward restoring degraded sites and restoring the health of people and animals alike. This interdisciplinary gathering, hosted by the NYC Bar Association, was surely a coming together of minds with different backgrounds but the same set of challenges. As this conference was quite an expert-level event, perhaps in the future there are also opportunities to push outward into those-who-don’t-know and offer them this inherently optimistic way to look at our blighted and polluted sites. 

Book review: Strange Fire

Review of Strange Fire by Joel Burcat (Headline Books, 2022)

By: Matthew Eshed

8/14/22

Image source: https://www.jewishexponent.com/2022/03/30/last-word-creating-a-protagonist-with-joel-burcat/

Strange Fire is an environmental legal thriller taking place in Pennsylvania’s fracking country, featuring a location and agencies who are nearly identical to their real counterparts, but are explicitly fictional.

A Texas-based oil and gas company leases land in Pennsylvania, to frack the abundant reservoirs there. One such operation features a regional operations manager, a veteran who accentuates the hyper-masculine culture often found in the military. A quote referenced in the book applies here: that the Navy is designed by geniuses to be operated by idiots (Whether or not this is true is not for me to say, but some who know more may confirm or deny the allegation. Hopefully no one will be offended!). The book, and its characters, say that the oil and gas industry is the same way. In this case, the “idiot” running the facility forces a contractor who was hired to dig an impoundment (that is, the pit designed to hold fluids generated through the fracking, in this case, designed for water), to work in torrential downpour in February. This operations manager feels pressure from his superiors in Texas to “drill baby drill,” and is caught in a situation where the fracking fluid tanks are stuck on the other side of a bridge that collapsed nearby. This situation introduces a risk that the fracking will start later than planned, and the manager does not want to let this happen under his watch. So he orders frack fluid tanks from 12 hours away, and orders the contractor to finish the pond, to temporarily hold fracking fluid until the tanks arrive. The seminal moment of the book comes when the operations manager calls the contractor at 2am in the rain and orders him to start filling the impoundment with fracking fluid. The contractor, drunk, says no, and the operations manager strikes him in the head, killing him, and buries him nearby.

In parallel, the landowner who has allowed the extraction on her land starts to become suspicious that the fracking operations are contaminating her drinking water. She hears from some of her peers in town that their water has been contaminated, and that they don’t trust the extraction companies, despite the tax revenue they bring and their assurances that they are not harming the water supply. She has a suspicion that her water is contaminated (it is unclear how much time has passed since the clean water impoundment was used temporarily for fracking fluid and the arousal of her suspicion), and she issues a complaint to the Pennsylvania Department of the Environment (PaDEP, or just DEP if you are already in PA). The DEP’s analysis shows that there is no way that the fracking fluid could have seeped from the encased lines into the well, and they blame the contaminants in the well on compounds that are already known in the water: agricultural runoff and naturally-occurring methane in the surface layers (fracking accesses gasses that are mile-deep, a form of “unconventional” gas extraction). The complainant appeals the PaDEP finding, with a local nonprofit activist law firm that is looking for a big case that it can use to fundraise and achieve its mission. The firm who accepts the case.

A lawyer from the DEP who is assigned to defend the appeal is teamed up with a lawyer for the O&G company, who works at a firm called “Finkel and Updike,” or “FU,” and was a rival of his in law school. The DEP lawyer is seen as an environmentalist by the FU lawyer, who is described in no more detail then as a brilliant layer who gets paid extremely well, bringing an element of tension between the two of them who have to work together.

The DEP lawyer is also teamed with the geoscientist who issued the report, with whom he has a mutual crush, and their romantic relationship develops throughout the story, despite her maniacal ex who follows her around. The landowner who filed the complaint and is the plaintiff in the case is upset that her husband is in the City during the week and is lonely during that time, with plenty of money to spend but nobody to share her bed with. She attempts to seduce the DEP lawyer at one point in the book, because he saved her child from a strange protest-turned-riot (organized by the activist law firm, but thwarted by unknown forces who hired black-clad protesters to “protect” the family protesters bussed in from the oil and gas worker counter-protesters who showed up).

All of these storylines intersect through this book; the murderous operations manager and the decision he made to use a clean water impoundment for frack fluid, the police chief who is investigating the missing person in the midst of so many oil and gas operations bringing people from around the country to town, the lecherous landowner with the vulgar tongue and the culture in which she lives, the nonprofit law firm trying to make their big break, the DEP lawyer and geoscientist who are lovers, and the Texas-based oil and gas extraction company.

The storylines are built throughout the book, with adept character development which at times tells the same story from multiple characters’ perspectives. The book takes us inside of the Intro to Geology course at Pennsylvania State University where the professor, an expert hired by law firms like FU to defend extraction companies, tells his students why fracking is not something to worry about. It describes the relationship between the DEP lawyer, his boss, and his rival. It takes us inside of the fundraising pressures experienced by the head of a nonprofit public-benefit law firm. We get a front-row seat to the ex-military gas extraction operations manager with anger issues, his trailer office, his aspirations for financial success, and the dynamic with his higher-ups. 

The storylines intersect with great excitement and resolution by the end (with a twist, of course). Strange Fire is a great, easy, and educational read for those seeking more insight into the dynamics of fracking in Pennsylvania. The author adeptly tells a fictional story that is also parallel to what really happens in Pennsylvania’s fracking country, so much so that he includes a disclaimer in the book stating its fictionality despite the apparent similarities. The author is an environmental lawyer with 30 years of experience, bringing a strong element of legitimacy to the story and the accuracy of the concepts.  

Public Engagement on Climate Change: Lit Review

Review of Public engagement with climate change: the role of human values

WIREs Clim Change 2014, 5:411–422. doi: 10.1002/wcc.269

Adam Corner, Ezra Markowitz, and Nick Pidgeon

→ Reviewed by Matthew Eshed for mceshed.com, et al, the universe, beyond←

In summary, this paper empirically states that self-transcendent and altruistic values are congruent with positive engagement on climate change, and self-enhancing values are less congruent with sustained, long-term engagement.

In my opinion, the most powerful narrative stated in the paper, resonant for nearly all groups, is the following: the “protection of nature, fairness and respect for the autonomy of individuals, and a positive contribution to future well-being as well as efficiency, the avoidance of waste, and long term thinking.”

“Universal” human values in the context of climate change are described as falling along two dimensions:

openness to change (including self-direction & stimulation) vs. desire to conserve/respect tradition (including security & conformity);

self- transcendence (including altruism, forgiveness, loyalty) vs. self-enhancement (including power, ambition, hedonism)

Additional frameworks include a definition of “altruistic and biospheric values….broadly equivalent to Schwartz’s self-transcendent and conservation groupings, while egoistic values appear to fit within the self-enhancement cluster.”

As well as “‘hierarchy- egalitarianism’ ... a cultural preference for an equitable division of resources (i.e. irrespective of gender, race or religion),” and “‘individualism- communitarianism’ ... whether individual interests should be subordinated to collective ones.”

Notably, although social marketing and economically-based approaches are “potentially effective for producing small scale, piecemeal and short-term behavioral changes,” they “undermine the ‘common cause’ on which all campaigns on ‘bigger than self’ issues like climate change ultimately depend, namely, the activation of self-transcendent values…”

Additionally, we are cautioned that “focusing on self-enhancing values will make behavioral ‘spillover’—that is, the transference of positive engagement with climate change from one behavior to another—less likely (because the original behavior was only performed for economic gain, not out of environmental concern)…”

Within these frameworks, it is described that “Although people possess a range of different and sometimes conflicting values, those who identify strongly with self-enhancing values (e.g. materialism, personal ambition) tend not to identify strongly with self-transcending values (e.g. benevolence, respect for the environment).” And that “willingness to accept policy measures was positively related to self-transcendent values.”

Optimistically, Dietz et al found that there is a “relationship between the endorsement of certain traditional values (such as honoring one’s parents, or showing respect) and willingness to support climate change policies.”

In addition, “those who more strongly endorse self-enhancement values have come to view action on climate change as an (implicit) attack on their values, and something that should only be pursued if it is in their individual self-interest.” Unsurprisingly, “individualistic and hierarchical individuals tended to be more supportive of climate policies that maintained the autonomy of the free market.”

Regarding climate communications, we are advised to be aware of “the ‘interpretative’ effects of values on climate engagement: the values we hold influence how we interpret the information we are exposed to about climate change in ways that lead us to either accept or reject the need for greater engagement and action.” Despite the popular saying, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, we can be assured that although “values are relatively stable across the adult lifespan … more deliberative processes may engage and even alter values over time,” and thus, the “filters on the interpretation of the information” can change, and new tricks indeed develop.

Additionally relieving is that "very few individuals hold only one set of values entirely at the expense of the other—and even individuals who score highly on measures of materialism have been shown to identify with and be receptive to messages framed using self-transcendent values.” It is suggested that climate communications can focus on “activation of self-transcendent values.”

In addition to, and reinforcing the items bolded at the start of this Review, the paper suggests a focus on public health, as well as “community well-being, intergenerational duty and a representation of the environment not as a ‘service provider’ but as something that people have a duty to protect.”

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I hope you enjoyed this lit review. Please note that my environmental management graduate studies are currently unfunded and I am seeking support from my friends and family to help me survive and thrive financially. See my post about it here: https://www.mceshed.com/blog/seeking-grad-school-scholarship-funded-by-you

Fortune 500 Sustainability Analysis

Stories - Fortune 500 Corporate Sustainability Analysis

By: Matthew Eshed
Key Terms: Ecology; Energy; Forest Products; GHG & Waste Goals; Infrastructure; Packaging; Product Design; Reverse Logistics; Social, Staff, Culture; Standards; Systems; Toxics; Transportation; Waste System; Water

Introduction

This document is a first-attempt to review a broad range of Fortune 500 sustainability approaches, through a technical and engineering lens. It is a summary of sustainability tactics utilized by 11 companies chosen to be a cross-industry sample. The companies reviewed are: 3M, Amazon, Comcast – NBC Universal, Home Depot, Intel, Jacobs, McDonalds, Netflix, Paypal, Starbucks, and UnitedHealth Group. Further research would expand the survey to more companies. For any questions please contact the author at matteshed@gmail.com.

Ecology

Intel utilizes the term “handprint” a number of times in their report, the only company to do so, which they define as ways to help others “reduce their footprints, including Internet of Things solutions that enable intelligence in machines, buildings, supply chains, and factories, and make electrical grids smarter, safer, and more efficient.” This is reflected in their product, supporting large data centers, servers, and massively distributed computers. By improving the energy handling of their products, they can have a massive impact on energy utilized by computers, accounting for 1.8% of electricity use in the United States (Siddik et al., 2021). This product ecology perspective recognizes the role that Intel products have for its users, going beyond “Scope 3” terminology, enabling customers to achieve their own goals. Doing well by doing good, one might say.

Environmentally speaking, McDonalds, Starbucks, and the Home Depot all have initiatives focused on environmental stewardship. McDonalds is funding regenerative agriculture projects, in partnership with Target, Cargill, and the Nature Conservancy (the primary funder of the TechStars Sustainability Startup Accelerator in Denver, with multiple “regentech” startups participating, such as Nori, the carbon removal marketplace). Starbucks offers training programs for their farmers, emphasizing “precision agronomy practices – such as analyzing soil and leaves – to help reduce our carbon footprint.”

Energy

Energy is a factor of every company’s approach, either simply as a factor for purchasing offsets or renewable energy credits, as an aspect of infrastructure development, or as a driver of innovation. 3M, Amazon, Home Depot, McDonalds, Starbucks, and Jacobs are all playing a role in building solar farms, wind turbines, battery storage, small nuclear reactors (Jacobs), and Virtual Power Purchase Agreements in countries around the world. Home Depot uses hydrogen powered forklifts in some of its locations, and publicizes the use of battery storage in at least 50 of its stores. Starbucks has funded nearly $100 million in community solar projects in New York, and McDonalds is experimenting with various methods to achieve zero-emissions electricity at its stores, including solar panel-covered parking lots, energy-generating photovoltaic windows, and even a bicycle that illuminates their logo. Renewable energy credits and offsets are used to “zero-out” emissions on the balance sheet by purchasing credits from verified registries.

Forest Products

With many products and their attendant packaging in inventory, 3M and Home Depot speak more than the others about the importance of sustainable forestry and paper products. 3M is prioritizing paper and pulp products as an area needing formal expectations because of deforestation risks and human rights violations. Home Depot is working to evolve and in some cases eliminate the use of pallets; experimenting with pallets made from post- consumer paper, and in some cases, forgoing pallets in shipment to enable the stacking of goods to the top of the trailer. According to Home Depot, it takes “a whole tree” to make eight wooden pallets. Amazon participates in initiatives such as the “Sustainable Packaging Coalition,” “The Recycling Partnership,” and has an internal “Packaging Lab.”

Greenhouse Gas and Waste Goals

All companies publish greenhouse gas and pollution reduction goals. Home Depot is working with one of its local plant suppliers to replace plastic tags with paper adhesive labels, eliminating the use of 7,900 lbs of plastic, a relatively small amount for a Fortune 500 company. Starbucks has a goal to eliminate one billion plastic straws per year, by replacing them with paper straws or with redesigned lids that do not need a straw. Starbucks Korea has set a goal of eliminating single-use cups by 2025, and Starbucks set a global goal in January 2020 to be a “resource-positive” company over the coming decades. Intel is nearing its goal to be zero-waste, with 5% of their total waste sent to landfill. Intel defines zero-waste as 1% of all waste sent to landfill.

On the side of greenhouse gas and other environmental pollutants, Netflix shared a metric of note: one hour of streaming releases in the range of 100g CO2e, which they equivocate to driving an internal combustion vehicle 1⁄4 mile. Netflix reported a 2020 carbon footprint of 1.1 million metric tons, less than a normal year because of the reduced production schedule due to the pandemic. As a semiconductor manufacturer, Intel’s waste stream is diverse, including PM2.5, VOCs, hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide. For pollution prevention, Intel uses “abatement equipment such as thermal oxidizers, wet electrostatic precipitators (WESPs), wet scrubbers, and ultra-low NOx burners.” In addition, Intel’s waste stream includes “lithography- related solvents, metal plating waste, specialty base cleaners, spent sulfuric acid, ammonium sulfate, and calcium fluoride.”

Infrastructure

Amazon, Home Depot, Intel, and Netflix have notable reports on infrastructural developments to support sustainability goals. Amazon is making capital expenditures on energy-efficient buildings, utilizing green roofs, LED lighting with sensing to detect when buildings are occupied, and advanced building management systems, including motor variable frequency drives, high-efficiency HVAC, and remote energy and power monitoring. Amazon claims green roofs “reduce building heating and cooling loads, clean and reduce storm water runoff by at least 70%, moderate the urban heat island effect, and improve local air quality.” In addition to battery storage systems used in Home Depot stores, the company also utilizes variable frequency drives (VFDs) to ensure equipment only uses electricity needed for immediate demand, with upgraded HVAC equipment in 576 stores. Netflix claims its efforts to reduce traffic on transmission networks by installing content delivery caches close to customers as sustainability improvements. Intel uses “22 different technology applications, such as solar hot and cooling water systems, solar electric photovoltaic-covered parking lots, and mini bio-energy, geothermal energy, and micro wind turbine array systems.”

Packaging

As consumer goods companies, 3M, Home Depot, Amazon, and McDonalds all make efforts to replace plastics with biodegradable substitutes in their packaging. UnitedHealth Group notes an effort to replace foam and polystyrene packaging with cotton, which they describe as “100% renewable” and “biodegradable, compostable, reusable, and recyclable.” It is worth noting that these terms deserve defining in order to integrate them into supply systems. At a 3M “Center of Excellence” in Oakdale, Minnesota, the team replaced the packaging used for a medical warming device from two-part foam molding to corrugated cardboard. Home Depot is swapping plastics in private-label packaging for “biodegradable options like molded pulp and paper” and has an effort to find substitutes for expanded polystyrene foam (EPS), claiming that EPS “contains beads of chemicals and oil that are often difficult to recycle and can take more than 500 years to biodegrade.” Home Depot claims to have “eliminated enough PVC film to cover 99 football fields.” McDonalds is replacing plastic drink lids with fiber in some markets, and Amazon speaks of “carbon neutral packaging,” though without any detail.

Product Design

3M, Amazon, Home Depot, Intel, and McDonalds are integrating sustainability into their product lines. 3M produces coatings and tapes for wind turbines, as well as roofing granules they claim can improve air quality, and soap that produces more lather than previous versions. Amazon uses its technology service business to support their Sustainability Data Initiative, “a global and authoritative source for open-sourced weather, climate, and sustainability data.” Home Depot cites metrics resulting from their energy- and water-efficient products, such as conserving 52 billion gallons of water in 2019 through WaterSense-labeled products. Intel celebrates their Internet of Things lighting platform, which can be used to optimize lighting in large buildings, as well as taking on the “global challenge to partner with the technology industry and other stakeholders to achieve ‘carbon-neutral computing’,” with “Modern Standby” cited as an energy-saving measure. Intel is also working on “engineering advances cooling solutions that optimize the reuse of compute exhaust heat,” and works with data center operators to enhance energy efficiency and renewable energy.

McDonalds is making an effort to replace plastic cutlery with wood, plastic straws with paper, plastic lids with fiber ones that eliminate the need for a straw, and is piloting a cup-share program in Germany. Starbucks is also working on a cup-share program in partnership with NYC-based Closed Loop Partners, with a Circular Cup offering in the UK, a “reusable cup made in the UK from approximately six single-use paper cups,” and cup- share pilots in Japan and Seattle. Starbucks claims oatmilk and Impossible / Beyond Meat breakfast sandwiches as sustainability measures.

Reverse Logistics

I have chosen to categorize all product and waste returns as reverse-logistics, as the effort to return a good from the customer to the seller. 3M celebrates their medical device repair center in Oakdale, Minnesota for its capacity for repair. Amazon has developed capacity in plastic film recycling, with goals of recycling 7,000 tons per year, with 1,500 tons per year being recycled in Europe. Home Depot also runs a plastics recycling program, focusing on plant pot recycling of plastics No.2 HDPE, No.5 PP, and No.6 PS, and claim 15 million pounds of plastics recycled by their vendor East Jordan Plastics, a manufacturer of plastic plant pots. Home Depot is also a big collector of light bulbs and batteries, with over 3⁄4 million pounds of CFL bulbs and 1⁄4 million lead-acid battery cores recycled per year. Home Depot also “recycled or reused for energy 33% of the hazardous waste generated from our operations and customer returns.” Intel has a well-publicized zero-waste strategy, with 82% of their manufacturing waste “fuel blended, recycled, recovered, or reused” in 2020. Paypal has a zero-landfill strategy for e-waste, with over 450 metric tons of e-waste retired in 2019 and 2020, half refurbished and reused, and half disposed of according to R2 and other e-waste disposal standards.

Social, Staff, Culture

Amazon, 3M, Intel, and Jacobs shine when it comes to staff, culture, and innovation. A team of Amazon employees used their DeepLens machine learning technology to identify waste items being discarded with built- in audio giving directions for how to discard the items. 3M encourages its staff to conduct energy walk-throughs, submit conservation ideas, and makes executives available to integrate their ideas into the company’s operations. Intel is lead within the semiconductor manufacturing industry, with a “collective approach to reducing emissions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry and increase [sic.] the use of technology to reduce climate impact in global manufacturing.” Jacobs has the most integrated sustainability training offering of the companies surveyed, which as a global engineering consulting company, they want staff who are well-versed in the various topics of sustainability. Starbucks offers a “Greener Apron” sustainability training program, and Netflix hired its first Sustainability Officer, who holds a PhD in Environmental Science Policy and Management from Stanford University, and sits in the office of the Chief Financial Officer.

Standards

All companies surveyed used a suite of standards in their sustainability endeavors. Many use the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System, “an internationally recognized approach for managing the immediate and long-term environmental impacts of an organization’s products, services, and processes.” Life cycle analysis is common, described by Amazon as an effort that “takes inflows from nature—raw materials, water, energy—and converts them into the process outputs and environmental impacts—releases to air, land, and water—for all processes that represent over 5% of total impact, energy use, or product mass.” Food companies used standards such as Rainforest Alliance for coffee procurement and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to ensure “deforestation-free” supply chains. Companies dealing in electronics use standards such as Electronic Product Environment Assessment Tool (EPEAT), “designed to help purchasers in the public and private sectors evaluate, compare, and select electronic products based on environmental leadership and corporate social responsibility attributes.” Responsible mineral sourcing was mentioned by all companies working in electronics, such as “Beyond 3TG” (tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold, cobalt), and the OECD Due Diligence framework for minerals sourcing. 3M has developed its own Sustainability Value Commitment (SVC) system, where all products must be assessed in how the “product incorporates environmental or social factors to contribute to our aspirations laid out in our Strategic Sustainability Framework. Examples of considerations include reusability; recyclability; waste reduction; energy and water savings; and responsible sourcing or use of renewable materials appropriate to the specific product throughout its life cycle.” Intel, with one of the highest load of toxics in its manufacturing operations and as a manufacturer of what will one day become e-waste, is “co-leading an Open Compute Project ... defining standards and practices on concepts of repairability, modularity, circular economy, biodegradability, and ultimately a minimum level of incremental residual e-waste (inspirationally, less than 10% of the original bill of materials).”

Intel publishes a chemical footprint methodology as:

Mfg Chemical Footprint = Mass of Chemical Used * Weighting Factors
Weighting Factors = Reputation Impact * Expectation of Regulation * Human Health Factors * Environmental Impact * Climate Impact

Systems

From Home Depot’s Project Sync “omnichannel initiative that identifies better ways to move our products,” to Intel’s new chemical management software systems, Starbucks’ Rwandan farmer agronomy tips hotline and cup- borrowing programs, Amazon’s shipping box optimization algorithms, machine learning models to identify highest leakage risk, conveyor optimzation models, and building control analytics for heating and cooling systems, and beyond, Fortune 500 sustainability is clearly a systems initiative. 3M, as a manufacturer of chemical and high-risk products, utilizes pollution prevention technologies such as “thermal oxidization, solvent recovery, carbon adsorption, biofiltration, electrostatic precipitators, baghouses, scrubbers, and cyclones,” with independent third-party verification of “volatile organic compound emissions, water, waste, environmental compliance metrics, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions.” 3M also has a Supplier Sustainability Solutions Library, to enable product developers to work in line with their Sustainability Value Commitment system. With its new sustainability department, Netflix has implemented a process to collect business activity data for its greenhouse gas management system. In the agricultural realm, McDonalds has established global research projects to “validate pioneering sustainability practices for beef farming.” Jacobs highlights that “solving the world’s most complex water challenges demands different thinking.”

Toxics

Product manufacturing companies that use toxic chemicals are increasingly seeing these as liabilities and are phasing them out of their products. From antibiotics in poultry and livestock, to VOCs, to PFOA/PFOS, the list of compounds being phased out is immense. For reference sake, I have provided a nearly-exhaustive list of chemicals no longer used or being phased out by Home Depot. Home Depot alone is eliminating neonicotinoids (which can harm pollinators), methyl chlorine, carpet and flooring chemicals such as triclosan, organotins, ortho- phthalates, vinyl chloride, nonylphenol, ethoxylates (NPEs), coal fly ash, formaldehyde (limited to 0.0073ppm or less), perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAs), paint chemicals such as triclosan, isocyanates, formaldehyde, lead/heavy metals, alkylphenol ethoxylates and nonylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs and NPEs), ethylene glycol, fiberglass insulation chemicals such as brominated flame retardants, halogenated flame retardants, antimony trioxide, formaldehyde, and added heavy metals. Amazon is also eliminating lead and halogenated flame retardants from their products. As a major manufacturer of PFAS/PFOA, 3M has now phased these chemicals referred to as “forever chemicals” by critics of their presence in the environment, out of their products, as they have been found in a significant number of waterways and aquifers in the United States. Intel pays particular attention to the handling of sulfuric acid waste.

Transportation

As transporters of large volumes of products, Amazon and Home Depot are investing in transportation optimization technologies and systems. Amazon utilizes automatic tire inflation systems in their trucks, and Home Depot is using electric 18-wheelers with a 250-mile range on the West Coast of the USA. Home Depot is working to stack products to the top of the trailer, are using technology to optimize shipments, and use “an artificial intelligence tool to set the engine utilization grind for optimal truck performance based on load weight.” Amazon is deploying small electric delivery vehicles such as electric bikes and rickshaws around the world. The field of transportation optimization is immense and deserves more attention.

Waste System

At a 3M site in Mexico, waste material is sent to an external co-processing facility, where the material is combusted and its ashes are used in cement. The site also has a polypropylene pelletizer that recycles nearly all of the polypropylene waste generated by that site’s processes. These examples of “industrial symbiosis” or “waste as food” are common among industrial sites.

Water

Intel’s facilities are sometimes located in water-stressed regions, and since semiconductor manufacturing requires high volumes of water, the company must invest in water conservation projects. In 2020, Intel claims to have “conserved 7.1 billion gallons of water internally and invested in water restoration projects that restored more than 1.3 billion gallons.” They also implement “ultra-pure water efficiency projects by optimizing or eliminating bypass flows,” and treat water using systems such as cooling towers and scrubbers. Amazon also uses onsite modular water treatment systems, for use in toilet flushing and gardening, as well as recharge wells, which send water back into aquifers. Starbucks also has initiatives to conserve water, in the processing of coffee as well as sourcing, utilizing the World Wildlife Foundation’s Water Risk tool to map highest risk basins. As large economic players in the world, these companies operationalize water management, an approach described well by Jacobs: “Water quality can often be compromised by poor management of infrastructure, pollution incidents and increased consumption patterns.”

SOURCES CONSULTED

Company Name, Report Title (Year), Page Count

1. 3M, Sustainability Report (2021), 333

2. Amazon, Sustainability: Thinking Big (2019), 171

3. Comcast – NBC Universal, Carbon Footprint Data Report (2021), Values Report (2020), 32

4. Home Depot, Responsibility Report (2020), 267

5. Intel, Corporate Responsibility Report (2020 – 2021), 266

6. McDonalds, SASB Index (2019), Purpose and Impact Summary Report (2019 – 2020), 102

7. Netflix, ESG SASB Report (2020), 103

8. Paypal, Global Impact Report (2020), 170

9. Starbucks, Global Environment & Social Impact Report (2020), 134

10. UnitedHealth Group, Sustainability Report (2019), 63

11. Jacobs, PlanBeyond 2.0 (2021), Sustainability Strategy (2018 – 2020), 216

And:
Siddik, M. A. B., Shehabi, A., & Marston, L. (2021). The environmental footprint of data centers in the United States. Environmental Research Letters, 16(6), 064017. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfba1

Carbon and Climate Policy Brief - Colorado 2021

This “secondary policy brief” was completed as a project for a Graduate-level Politics and Policy class. My classmates were Eryka Thorley, Jad Freiha, and Ashley Duncan.

Background: Carbon offsets are a rapidly growing market with an expected growth ranging from $700.5 million in 2027 (marketwatch.com) to $100 billion market by 2030 (Bloomberg.com). Pair this with most every community in the United States employing strategic climate goals while working within archaic Public Utility Commission regulations, it is imperative that we rethink carbon offsets and institutionalize them in the 'local’. Global, national, state and community governments are weighing the importance of climate goals and action more strongly than ever and local carbon reductions are a key solution to reducing emissions and enhancing resilience.

STATE:
Colorado Climate Bills Passed in 2021 Legislative Session:

➢  HB1266 Environmental Justice Act | Task Force, Defines Disproportionately Impacted Communities

➢  HB1189 Regulate Air Toxics | Facilities must monitor hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, benzene and “any other hazardous air pollutant that the commission lists”

➢  SB246 Electric Utility Promote Beneficial Electrification | Guidelines, regulations for electrification

➢  SB264 Adopt Programs Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Utilities | “Clean heat” standards

➢  HB1238 Public Utilities Commission Modernize Gas Utility Demand-side Management Standards

➢  HB1286 Energy Performance for Buildings | Energy data collection - large buildings, benchmarking

➢  HB1162 Management of Plastic Products | Bans plastic bags starting in 2024

➢  HB1260 General Fund Transfer Implement State Water Plan | $20m to Water Conservation Board

➢  HB1326 2020-21 General Fund Transfer Support Department of Natural Resources Programs | $25m

➢  SB112 General Fund Transfer to Capital Construction Fund State Parks | $20m

Colorado Climate Action Plan | HB1261 (2019)

➢  Amends Air Pollution Prevention and Control Act, Colo. Rev. Stat § 25-7-101

➢  Sets statewide emissions goals (2005 baseline, CO2e): 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030, 90% by 2050

➢  Defines greenhouse gas as: Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons, Perfluorocarbons, Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3), Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6)

➢  Air Quality Control Commission sets the rules, missed July 2020 deadline

➢  In Jan 2021, Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap released
Colorado Reduce Greenhouse Gases Increase Environmental Justice |SB21-200 (2021, lost)
➢ Requires the air quality control commission (AQCC) to adopt rules that will result in the statewide reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030, and 90% by 2050, as compared to 2005 emissions, was designed to be a follow-up to the “climate road map”

COUNTY :

Boulder County Sustainability Tax / Matching Grant

➢  Nov 2016 voters approved Sustainability Tax ballot initiative – portion of sales and use tax allocated for sustainability infrastructure development

➢  Includes grant funding for communities with sustainability focused initiatives

Boulder County Energy Impact Offset Fund

➢ Cannabis businesses required to track, report, and offset 100% of their electricity use
➢ Offset options: on-site solar, subscribe to local solar garden, pay Energy Impact Offset Fund

➢ Overseen by Bounder County Climate Initiatives Department

Gunnison County

➢ 2020 Climate Action Report proposes greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2030:
Residential –9% | Commercial –9% | Surface Travel –25% | Air Travel –21% | Landfill –21%

➢ States Gunnison County housing has worse energy efficiency than Climate Zone 7 Average ➢ Proposed policy options for improving energy efficiency of buildings in Gunnison County ➢ Proposed policy options for reducing transportation emissions in County

MUNICIPAL:
Nederland Resolution 2017-10
➢ August 15 , 2017, Nederland passed a unanimous resolution to reach 100% renewable energy for their electric grid by 2025. The 42nd community in the U.S. to commit to this goal

VOLUNTARY:

Colorado Carbon Fund

➢  Mission objective: mitigate climate change and the risks imposed on Colorado

➢  Funding: Through donations and grants from donors and a “Go Carbon Neutral License Plate” for sale on their website (+1000 sold)

➢  Highlights: “Southern Ute Methane Capture,” “Larimer County Landfill Methane Capture,” “Jager Avoided Grassland Conversion”

Finger Lakes Climate Fund

➢  Low to moderate income households in Finger Lakes benefit from the funds dedicated for energy efficient residential projects

➢  Ex. energy efficient upgrades: insulation, air sealing, energy efficient heating equipment, etc.

➢  Energy efficiency upgrades are carried out by Building Performance Institute accredited contractors using guidelines provided by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

➢  Benefit: reduce GHG emissions, support low-income families, and stimulate local economy

OTHER LEGISLATION OR CARBON RELATED OPPORTUNITIES:

New York State Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act SB6599 (2019)

• Amends environmental conservation law, adding a Climate Action Council, greenhouse gas emissions limits, promulgates regulations to achieve emissions limits, creates Climate Justice Working Group, defines the value of carbon, creates community air monitoring program, and reporting requirements.

IRS Code 45Q (Carbon Sequestration Tax Credit)

➢  Geologically sequestered carbon dioxide credits $23.82-$31.77/ton in 2020 (dependent on equipment age), rising to $50/ton in 2026

➢  Geologically sequestered carbon dioxide with Enhanced Oil Recovery: $11.91-$20.22/ton in 2020, rising to $35/ton in 2026

➢  Other qualified uses of carbon dioxide: $20.22/ton in 2020, rising to $35/ton in 2026

➢  Claims periods, qualifying facilities (must build by 2026), annual capture requirements, eligibility

➢  Direct Air Capture included, must capture 100,000 metric tons

➢  Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 expanded and extended the 45Q tax credit (added OR and DAC)

NY Climate and Community Investment Act A6967 / S4264 (in committee)

➢ Enacts the climate and community investment act. This act seeks to transition NY to 100% renewable energy, create hundreds of thousands of jobs, protect workers currently in the fossil fuel industry and support the communities most impacted by climate change and pollution.

“Burning Questions” for Environmental Management

The six readings considered for this paper, reviewed on beginning with the paragraph starting with “The ‘Frameworks’ readings,’ and references at end, are about climate and related social systems. The need for systems change to achieve harmony between the human and non-human world is clear, but the approach is difficult, visionary, and technically complex. Shifting to a global economic system that aligns with environmental health requires coordinating among thousands of nations, with different languages, cultures, hostilities and alliances. This is, of course, the goal of the United Nations. But, how do we do more, better?

As described in the book The World After Us, our species has caused the extinction of nearly all of the megafauna around the world since migrating from Africa, either by hunting to extinction, habitat modification, or both (Weisman, Alan, 2007). This is commonly known. The record of human environmental policy starts in 10,000 BCE, when humans began cultivating rye and wheat from the waters of the Tigris, Euphrates, and Nile Rivers. In 350 BCE, at Aristotle’s urging, Greek city-states began regulating wood use and protecting forests. Since then, humans have constantly course-corrected when they notice the harmful impacts of unregulated environmental management, such as lost old- growth forests or polluted air (Cousins, 2003). Humans had already modified large swaths of the planet by the time the nineteenth century rolled around, when homo sapiens in the UK began mining coal and burning it to generate mechanical energy (Kool, 2020). This is the time when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are measured to have begun rising (NOAA, 2016). The anthropocene would have started here, at the point at which industrial-scale extraction and combustion of subterranean minerals began.

With the clear and present impact of our species on the material makeup of the planet’s oceans, lands, and atmosphere, some of us have protested the destruction of all non-humanity on Earth using compactly stored energy, or fossil fuels, with one barrel of oil being roughly equivalent to 11 years of human labor (Hagens and IIER, 2020). World War II had an enormous impact on the world’s extraction and production of petroleum materials and agricultural systems, as well as the world’s mental state (Robinson & Sutherland, 2002). In 1972, the first UN Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, which represents a step forward in human-environmental systems development. However, since WWII, “Acceleration” economics has dominated, in which growth-at- whatever-cost is adopted as the mantra (Osaka, 2020). In the USA, the agricultural industry became more consolidated and more subsidized, a trend that continues today, especially impacting small dairy farms (Weingarten et al., 2021). Economic expansion has bought with it environmental degradation and modification, with economic operators content to look the other way, and distract from their feelings by consumer culture (McKnight & Block, 2016).

The creation of the United States of America came with the destruction of the inhabitants of this land, Turtle Island, who had been with their land for hundreds of generations. These native peoples were mistakenly called Indians because Christopher Columbus thought this land was near India, and they continued to be called Indians, even though the tribes have distinct cultures and languages, and this land is not near India. As European settlers seeking a place to practice Christianity (Protesantism) expanded into this land, they over time forced the destruction of the Indigenous tribes (Davis, 2010). When the United States of America declared independence from Great Britain and fought the Revolutionary War in 1776, its budding agricultural and land management sector used forced African labor in its fields and to dote on its wealthy aristocracy. The land management policies of the early United States considered this land to be its “manifest destiny” to conquer, with the planet being a provider of limitless resources (Lewis, 1988). These historical issues live within our collective memory and trauma. Success in bottom-up resistance efforts by Indigenous people and allies around the world demonstrates that exploitation of land and species can be tempered by popular resistance (Piven, 2008).

The “Frameworks” readings for this Synthesis paper demonstrates the theory and practice of designing sustainably, such that future generations have at least the access to resources that we do today. It is my perspective that the objective is now regeneration more than sustainability – that is, ensuring that future generations have relationships that are even better than today. Where we are today is a 4,000 page report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the IPCC), describing the physical science basis of climate change in 2021. The Summary for Policymakers is readable at 41 pages, and clearly states what is known, and with what certainty (Climate Change 2021, 2021).

Our world is a complex system, as described in the introduction to Donella Meadows’ book Thinking in Systems (Meadows, 2008). Though, within its complexity, scientists and researchers are showing us clear trends, such as, that the energy transition reflects the dominant system trait of winners and losers. Poor people tend to pay more of their income toward energy bills, live in less-efficient homes, and have less access to low-energy products (Carley & Konisky, 2020). Black and brown people live near polluting facilities at a higher rate and have higher rates of illness than European- descended people (Bullard, 2001). To design for successful outcomes, we are invited to utilize frameworks for urban and community systems design, and the five dimensions of community systems: Relationships, Institutions, Production, Organisation, and Governance (Nayak, 2019). The Social- Ecological systems (SES) framework developed by Elinor Ostrom is enhanced by researchers at the University of Colorado Denver, who add Infrastructure as a dimension (SEIS), allowing for transboundary, multifactor, multitheory approaches for integrated models that comprehensively inform urban policymakers (Ramaswami et al., 2012).

These systems analysis frameworks are necessary because, as economist Rebecca Henderson says, the free market works when prices reflect the actual cost of goods, which is not what we have today, where the cost of environmental damage is not factored into goods (Henderson, 2020). Linking environment and health appears to be a distant possibility, but perhaps it is closer than it has ever been before. Frameworks, case studies, and economic perspectives exist to aid in the Work. It is worth mentioning that the work involves play, and in Derek Sivers’ 2010 TED talk, we reflect on the experience of the solo dancer, who is followed by a second, a third, and finally, a crowd of dancers; a small movement (Sivers, 2010).

For me, the question that remains is, how might we motivate and empower every person to act within their means to be an agent for systems change? The answer is a call to action, a call to design, a call to live: to dance the dance, and do what we can to get others to join in too, and join in ourselves. The dance is a dance of particles, of waves of light, of sparks of electricity, synaptic connections traveling within and between bodies. It is also a dance of law and subsidy readjustment.

I’m with Greta. I’m with Vandana Shiva. I’m with Alexandra Ocasio Cortez and the other Green New Deal architects. I’m not the same as them – I dance my own dance, but I am with them, on the same team, the same clan, on this Spaceship Earth.

REFERENCES

Bullard, R. D. (2001). Environmental Justice in the 21st Century: Race Still Matters. Phylon (1960-), 49(3/4), 151–171. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/3132626

Carley, S., & Konisky, D. M. (2020). The justice and equity implications of the clean energy transition. Nature Energy, 5(8), 569–577. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-0641-6

Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. (2021). IPCC.
Cousins, K. (2003). A BRIEF HISTORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY. University of Maryland. Davis, K. (2010, October). America’s True History of Religious Tolerance. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/americas-true-history-of-religious-tolerance-61312684/
Hagens and IIER, N. J. (2020). Economics for the future – Beyond the superorganism. Ecological Economics, 169, 106520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106520
Henderson, R. (2020, October). To save the climate, we have to reimagine capitalism. https://www.ted.com/talks/rebecca_henderson_to_save_the_climate_we_have_to_reimagine_capitalism Kool, T. (2020, March 25). The Complete History Of Fossil Fuels. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Complete-History-Of-Fossil-Fuels.html
Lewis, J. (1988, March). Looking Backward: A Historical Perspective on Environmental Regulations [Reports and Assessments]. https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/looking-backward-historical-perspective-environmental-regulations.html
McKnight, J., & Block, P. (2016, January 13). The Good Life? It’s Close to Home. Shareable. https://www.shareable.net/the-good-life-its-close-to-home/
Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in Systems: International Bestseller (D. Wright, Ed.). Chelsea Green Publishing.

Nayak, A. K. J. R. (2019). Introduction: Transition Challenges and Pathways to Sustainable Community Systems: Design and Systems Perspectives. In Transition Strategies for Sustainable Community Systems: Design and Systems Perspectives (pp. 1–17). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00356-2
NOAA. (2016). Carbon Dioxide Concentration | NASA Global Climate Change. Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide
Osaka, S. (2020, August 11). Post-COVID, should countries rethink their obsession with economic growth? Grist. https://grist.org/politics/post-covid-should-countries-rethink-their-obsession-with-economic-growth/
Piven, F. F. (2008). Can Power from Below Change the World? American Sociological Review, 73(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240807300101
Ramaswami, A., Weible, C., Main, D., Heikkila, T., Siddiki, S., Duvall, A., Pattison, A., & Bernard, M. (2012). A Social-Ecological-Infrastructural Systems Framework for Interdisciplinary Study of Sustainable City Systems. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 16(6), 801–813. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00566.x
Robinson, R. A., & Sutherland, W. J. (2002). Post-war changes in arable farming and biodiversity in Great Britain. Journal of Applied Ecology, 39(1), 157–176. https://doi.org/10.104/j.1365-2664.2002.00695.x
Sivers, D. (2010, February). How to start a movement. https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement

Weingarten, D., Aug. 1, T. D., & edition, 2021From the print. (2021, August 1). A mega-dairy is transforming Arizona’s aquifer and farming lifestyles. https://www.hcn.org/issues/53.8/agriculture-a-mega-dairy-is-transforming-arizonas-aquifer-and-farming-lifestyles
Weisman, Alan. (2007). The world without us. St. Martin’s Press.

Appeal filed: East River Park Destruction (repost)

A vibrant East River Park dance circle and labyrinth. Pre-destruction, circa 2020. Copyright mceshed

This press release was originally written by East River Park Action, a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Lower Manhattan. It is republished here to support a more wide distribution.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Appeal filed for state review of destruction of East River Park

The City has strenuously avoided asking for “alienation” approval from the NYS legislature. East River Park Action insists.

The more that is uncovered about the City’s East Side Coastal Resiliency project, the more it is clear that accountability is critical. Attorney Arthur Schwartz filed a brief April 30 asking the appellate court to require state legislative oversight.

Why Alienation

The city is supposed to ask the state legislature before using parkland for any other purpose—even temporarily. New York City did not request this "alienation" for the five-year flood control project that would raze the 82-year old 1.2 mile long park, then rebuild it eight feet higher.

That’s why East River Park Action along with 20 other community organizations and 100 individuals filed a lawsuit demanding alienation legislation from the state last year. The suit was rejected in State Supreme Court.

No. The Park Won’t Drown

The original decision that is being appealed was based on an inaccurate assumption. Judge Melissa Crane wrote, “While I do find that the City’s plan involves a substantial intrusion … without this plan we will likely not even have a park at all.”

That is incorrect. The city’s attorneys said that the park would be completely destroyed and eventually inundated by rising sea levels and storm surges. In fact, the park is already resilient. Flood waters receded quickly and the park reopened two days after Hurricane Sandy. It can be made more resilient as sea levels rise. Salt-water resistant plantings can replace damaged trees and greenery. Instead of a massive wall against the river, marshlands can be created along the shoreline as is done in other parks around the city and the world. Flooding does not hurt natural turf ballfields.

East River Park does not need to be destroyed to save it or the adjacent Lower East Side and East Village. Flood protection along the FDR Drive, as was originally planned, will protect the neighborhood. Innovative solutions, such as covering at least some of the FDR with parkland can also act as flood protection and can add acreage.

Parkland Needs a Guarantee

Judge Crane also rejected the concern that the city might allow developers to build high rises on the park. Alienation would require the return of the entire park as a park. Crane said, “…at this point the danger of the city using the park for something else is speculation.”

However, this is a major concern as expressed in a December 2018 letter from elected representatives that asked the city to request alienation. The officials asked, “If the City were to go forward with the new plan, and alienation is not required, how would the City be held accountable to ensure that 100% of the parkland and open space is returned to the public?”

The City’s response was hardly reassuring, wrote Schwartz in the appeal: “In essence, the City said ‘don’t worry, it’s mapped parkland, so must always be mapped parkland.’ ”

State senators in the districts by East River Park, Harvey Epstein and Brad Hoylman, continue to support alienation but say they cannot initiate it—it must be done through the city’s request or by court order.

On Time in NYC?

Schwartz, who is running for City Council in District 3 and is working pro bono through the nonprofit Advocates for Justice, also noted the problem the City has with timelines. “While the project is intended to last for five years, prior construction on the Park to fix damaged bulkheads along the waterfront took six years rather than what was originally announced as a two-year project. Construction estimates for projects such as this are notoriously bad.”

Value Engineering Study Reveals NYC Alienation Dodge

Did the City make the decision to bury East River Park in part to avoid asking for alienation from the state? Reading through the (mostly) unredacted Value Engineering Study,* it appears so. The three-year-old report, recently uncovered by East River Park Action’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request and appeals, shows alienation was a concern. Making it look as though recreating the park on top of a giant levee was for the benefit of the park—not just for flood control for the neighborhood—the city would not have to face the state’s deadlines, budgets, or even a promise to return the whole park as parkland.

In fact, the plan the city put forward, does make part of East River Park permanently unusable as parkland. How will park-goers use a steep hill to the top of the levee that will rise alongside the path next to the FDR for more than a, mile? How will park-goers use the three maintenance vehicle parking lots in places that are now much-used green areas? By avoiding alienation, the city can dodge those questions.

Alternate Park Space

The law also says that even temporary use of parkland for other purposes requires alienation. The state legislature can demand mitigation—alternate comparable park space while the work is being done.

What will the 110,000 people in the densely populated low-middle income neighborhood do for five-plus years while the park is destroyed around them, and there is little access and no through routes from the 40 percent of the park that is supposed to remain open?

The City’s current mitigations offer little for ball teams, runners, bikers, walkers, picnickers, and elderly and disabled people.

Is the unwillingness to provide decent park space for our crowded neighborhood a reason the City is avoiding this long-established step?

Over Budget

Oversight is also crucial because the $1.45 billion set aside for funding will not cover the cost of the project. The lowest bid for destruction of the park exceeds the budget by $73 million. That doesn’t include the enhanced sewer system—another expensive aspect of the plan that has yet to be put out for bids.

The state needs to be monitoring this massive, five-year project that is over-budget before it has even started.

Contact

Arthur Z. Schwartz: 212-285-1400: 917-923-8136

aschwartz@advocatesny.com

Jonathan Lefkowitz: 917-544-4635

jon@lefkowitz-law.com

Links:

April 30 Appeal: Matter of East River Park Action Brief for Petitioners Appellants

https://eastriverparkaction.org/appeal-for-alienation/

Legal page with links to documents: https://eastriverparkaction.org/legal/

Transparency Lawsuit

East River Park Action also filed a lawsuit April 2 for the unredacted Value Engineering Study cited above. Jack Lester is the attorney in that case:

https://eastriverparkaction.org/2021/04/05/lawsuit-filed-for-unredacted-value-engineering-report/

Donate to East River Park ACTION legal fund via GoFundMe to help continue the fight to #SaveEastRiverPark. Send checks to East River Park Action, c/o Jon Lefkowitz, 428 E. 10th St., New York, NY 10009. We are deeply grateful.

This wonderful park we are trying to preserve is forever Indigenous land of Lenapehoking. We hope to honor and respect the land of this park by advocating its use as a resilient flood-absorbing sponge working with the river-side ecosystem, rather than in defiance of it. We oppose the ESCR project that continues assault on the land and recognize it adds a layer of injury to the ongoing systemic oppression of the original stewards of this land, the Lenapeyok People.

NYC and Its Coastal Resilience Fight

This Press Release, published here in its entirety, was originally published on April 5 by East River Park ACTION, a 501(c)3 created to protect East River Park from destruction by the City of New York.

Last August, a local NYC newspaper published my Op-Ed arguing that coastal resilience engineering needs ecosystem protection as a design requirement.

Since this Press Release, NYC has responded to pressure from activists and has begun to un-redact the Value Engineering study on the East Side Coastal Resiliency, published here: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/escr/about/environmental-review.page.

~~~

For Immediate Release

What’s wrong with the flood control plan for the Lower East Side? Let’s see the report and find out, says a new lawsuit.

NYC may have to reveal the contents of a hidden study that supposedly justified the complete destruction of East River Park and the building of a giant levee at double the cost of the original plan.

A lawsuit filed April 2 asks for full disclosure of the much-discussed but largely unseen Value Engineering Study. Joining the lawsuit brought by East River Park Action attorney Jack Lester are mayoral candidate Dianne Morales; Manhattan Borough President candidate Lindsey Boylan; and City Council candidates Christopher Marte, Erin Hussein, and Allie Ryan. The political club Grand Street Democrats also joined along with community activists.

They seek transparency, accountability and a re-examination of the massive flood control project to find alternatives that will preserve parkland.

Report? What report?

Mayor Bill de Blasio cited the Value Engineering study in September 2018 as the reason for the radical change in the East Side Coastal Resiliency plan. An independent analyst hired by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Rivera in 2019 requested the study and other technical reports, but he did not receive them. He had to make his evaluation based on guesses.

City agencies then deceived elected officials and community members about the existence of the report. The Department of Design and Construction, which is overseeing the project, told City Council Member Carlina Rivera in 2019 that the study did not exist.

In December 2020, East River Park Action activists filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for the study. There were “no responsive documents,” the city replied.

An appeal to the FOIL unearthed a heavily redacted Value Engineering Study and Elevated Park Alternative Feasibility Analysis in February. A further appeal resulted in a slightly less blacked-out version of the reports.

That is what led East River Park Action to take legal action against the mayor and the Office of Management and Budget in State Supreme Court for the release of the entire Value Engineering Study without redactions.

“The failure to come clean with our community demonstrates the contempt the Administration has for our community,” says Jonathan Lefkowitz of East River Park Action. “The Administration would never try to shove a plan like this in other neighborhoods with greater resources.”

What’s wrong with the East Side Coastal Resiliency plan?

The radically revised East Side Coastal Resiliency project overrode years of planning with community input. The existing 1.2 miles of parkland would no longer act as an absorbent coastline rising into long hills to protect the Lower East Side and East Village. Instead, the entire park would be buried under eight feet of fill A new park eventually would be built on top.

The project has been repeatedly delayed. Before it has really begun, construction bids show costs far higher than the $1.45 billion budget. The project also faces deep community opposition and skepticism. Yet the city failed to provide the document that was supposed to make it clear why the city changed the plan.

“We are looking for transparency, oversight and accountability,” says Lefkowitz.  “Alternatives must be considered before destroying a heavily used 82-year-old park adjacent to a low and middle income neighborhood.”

Some of those alternatives may be outlined in the Value Engineering Study. Other  alternatives in line with current climate science and environmental justice must be considered before the East Side Coastal Resiliency continues.

Other Legal Action

This is the second lawsuit brought by East River Park Action. Attorney Arthur Schwartz is planning an appeal of East River Park Action’s “Alienation” lawsuit, which would provide state legislative oversight.

Contact

Jonathan B. Lefkowitz: jon@lefkowitz-law.com 646.216.8380

Links

Article 78 Petition–Supreme Cour State of New York County of New York, East River Park Action, Inc., et al, against Mayor Bill De Blasio and the Office of Management and Budget: https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=ieWpAPIpAc32aETjx1sW7A==

East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR)project

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/escr/index.page

Value Engineering Study referenced in Mayor De Blasio’s press release

https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/493-18/fact-sheet-de-blasio-administration-faster-updated-plan-east-side-coastal

Value Engineering Study, 2018, heavily redacted: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/escr/downloads/pdf/ESCR-Value-Engineering-Study-Preliminary-Report-2018.pdf

Elevated Park Alternative Feasibility Analysis

https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/escr/downloads/pdf/ESCR-Elevated-Park-Alternative-Feasibility-Analysis-2018.pdf  

Report Raises Alarming Questions About the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) Plan for East River Park in Manhattan—report by independent consultant hired by Manhattan Borough President and CCM Carlina Rivera, 2019:

https://eastriverparkaction.org/report-raises-alarming-questions-about-the-east-side-coastal-resiliency-escr-plan-for-east-river-park-in-manhattan/

Donate to East River Park ACTION legal fund via GoFundMe to help continue the fight to #SaveEastRiverPark. Send checks to East River Park Action, c/o Jon Lefkowitz, 428 E. 10th St., New York, NY 10009. We are deeply grateful.

This wonderful park we are trying to preserve is forever Indigenous land of Lenapehoking. We hope to honor and respect the land of this park by advocating its use as a resilient flood-absorbing sponge working with the river-side ecosystem, rather than in defiance of it. We oppose the ESCR project that continues assault on the land and recognize it adds a layer of injury to the ongoing systemic oppression of the original stewards of this land, the Lenapeyok.

Biomimicry, Bikeshare, Biodegradable, Biodigesters

On Biomimicry

Biomimicry is as much a part of climatetech as oxygen is a part of carbon dioxide. When I was preparing for college in the early 2000's, we called it bio-inspired design. But it's the same concept: studying nature's design and flows for inspiration. It can be as tangible as studying the movement of a cockroach to design robots, as ethereal as designing an organizational system based on the social life of a beehive, or as embodied as a design based on atmospheric visuals. In the early 2000's, Janine Beynus published her book Biomimicry and began popularizing the concept of "Biomimicry 3.8," stating that 3.8 billion years of research and development performed by nature is available for us to learn from and design with.

In nature, there is no waste, and as we move toward a society free of waste, nature is our best teacher. Not many of us realize that our pharmaceutical drugs start with plants - there are field chemists studying plants and how animals use them to identify compounds which can then be recreated in a lab, and controlled for use by humans. The translation between nature's gifts and human creation is called biomimicry, and people working within it are called biomimics.

Bikeshare

Bicycle-share programs are a confluence of the so-called "sharing economy," zero-emissions transportation infrastructure, and the circular economy. They aren't the sexiest form of climatetech out there, but potentially one of the most powerful. Which municipal transportation company is going to be the first to enable its riders to transfer from subways and busses to bicycles? Bikeshare also can get overshadowed by scooter-share, which is more the rage. But bikeshare is climatetech nonetheless, you hear?

Biodegradables

"What's the difference between biodegradables and compostables?" is a question on many of our minds. Biodegradable generally means that the item can break down into its fundamental molecules and transform into a new object, under normal environmental conditions. Compostable falls into two camps, backyard compostable and industrial compostable. Industrial compostables are controversial because they commonly get put in the recycling stream, where the commoner's perspective is that they are separated and put into landfill. Are industrial compostables that end up in landfill better or worse than not making them from bio-based materials in the first place? This is a big question.

What the fundamental molecules are that so-called "biodegradables" break down into is a great question. Subscribe to The Climatetech Media Project so that you'll know when more information about biodegradables comes out. In permaculture, paths are created by using layers of corrugated cardboard and woodchips. The corrugated cardboard eventually breaks down and becomes soil, through cycles of sun and water. This is a biodegradable process. Compost is a process by which micro-organisms, fungi, water, and oxygen work together to transform plant matter into a nutrient-rich soil additive. Much more can be said on compost, but that's for a later post.

Biodigesters

In my experience, biodigesters are generally anaerobic, or in a state where they are free of oxygen. Biodigestion is a process by which organic materials are broken down into their material mass, methane, and heat, similar to digestion and elimination of food in the body. Flatulence, defacation, and heat are experienced by all of us - this is biodigestion in the works.  Anaerobic biodigestion is a viable process for breaking down large quantities of organic matter, from wood chips to milk solids, into a soil amendment, heat to produce steam, and methane to burn.

9 Musicians, and Atmospheric Carbon Removal Technologies

When co-producing an award show earlier this month for the AirMiners atmospheric carbon removal technologies community, called the "Carby's," I collaborated with some musicians to explore how we might bring the dimension of art to tech- and science-heavy atmospheric carbon removal technologies. Due to technical difficulties, budget and timeline constraints, we did not end up using any of the recommended artists in the final event. Since these artists were part of my process, and thus, contributed to making the Carby's great, I want to promote them and their work, and hopefully we will collaborate in the future. I think climate science needs art to communicate more effectively, and I look forward to co-producing more climate innovation-inspired music and art throughout 2021 and the decades to come.

This post is for Creative Use Only - not for commercial use, this is not intended to sell a product or service, and all credit goes to the artists.

I want to shoutout the Seastars, for their song Carbon Needs A Price Tag, which we showed at the AirMiners conference in May, and for their harmonized "Go Air Miners" video they submitted for the award show. I also want to shoutout Baba Brinkman, the science rapper who delighted attendees of the conference in May with his "AirMiners Conference Rap Up."

A big shoutout to Zoo Labs in Oakland, CA, a nonprofit musician accelerator that has been serving musicians in the Bay Area for nearly a decade. I met the founder, Vinitha Watson, at a Universal Basic Assets convening at the Institute for the Future a few years back, and find their offering to be unique. When looking for musicians to feature at the awards show, I reached out to Zoo Labs first. I was connected to a handful of artists, and three in particular stood out, Kristina Dutton, Aisha Fukushima, and Esoterica Tropical:

Kristina Dutton

http://kristina-dutton.com/

Kristina is a multi-instrumentalist composer, choreographer, and environmentalist who has so much to share, though I found the piece that she composed, "Murmurations," as very appropriate for a conference focusing on atmospheric carbon removal technologies. From the director Xavi Bou's website, "Ornitographies is a balance between art and science; a nature-based dissemination project and a visual poetry exercise but above all, an invitation to perceive the world with the same curious and innocent look of the child we once were."

Aisha Fukushima

https://aishafukushima.com/music

Aisha Fukushima is the founder of RAPtivism, and according to her website, is also a performance lecturer, justice strategist, and vocalist. Her blend of art, music, and activism is fertile ground for effectively communicating for impact in environmentalism. I especially appreciate her creation entitled Flint:

María José Montijo / Esoterica Tropical

https://www.esotericatropical.com/musicmedicine

María is a healer, artist, and musician from Oakland, and her song Huracán struck me as strong, vibrant, rhythmic, and the kind of Earth-shaking music that might actually make something happen. The song is accompanied by the following subtitle:

Every little thing in the universe vibrates and resonates.

cuerpo de luz, cuerpo de arcoiris, que cura, que cura, cura

Robert Rich

https://robertrich.com

Robert has been releasing albums for nearly 40 years, and is one of the most accomplished sound designers and electronic musicians alive. He "has performed in caves, cathedrals, planetaria, art galleries and concert halls throughout Europe and North America," and thus would be appropriate "theme music" to reflect the futurism of the AirMiners community with the cinematism that we associate with award shows. thought his song Connective would fit perfectly for our award show theme song, and here it is for your enjoyment:

Siddhartha Corsus

I spent a number of hours looking for songs on https://freemusicarchive.org, and I found some gems, including Siddhartha Corsus, an artist from Portugal who makes Buddhism-inspired music. He has released a few EPs this year, and I found myself coming back to a number of his songs. His Bandcamp page for his most recent album says "Proceeds from this album will go to benefit Monte Sahaja, Mooji's centre for self-realisation in Portugal. May these songs uplift, bring joy, bless, remind, bring peace and goodwill towards all. May we always remember the Supreme Lord who resides in the heart of all things, the Truth within."

My favorite EPs were 2018's Rainbow Bridge and Rasa Lily, especially the two songs, Ocean Waves, and Ta-Da!

Shoutout to freemusicarchive.org and their parent company Tribe of Noise for helping musicians get their sounds out there.

Ben Prunty

https://benprunty.bandcamp.com

This artist was one of my first candidates for the theme music. I listened to his album Chromatic T-Rex multiple times, and will surely look out for him at music festivals in the future. Check out the album, but especially the track Giant Step: https://benprunty.bandcamp.com/track/giant-step

Moonchild

https://www.thisismoonchild.com/home

Finally, to close out the list, I want to share a song that is one of my favorites for 2020: The Other Side, by Moonchild. I first heard of the band through their Tiny Desk concert, and I was immediately hooked. I must have listened to The Other Side a hundred times in 2020, and I was hoping that there might be a chance the song finds a place at the Carby's. Alas, it didn't, and here it is for your enjoyment.

Moonchild's Tiny Desk concert:

Better options for buyers

DIY Cargo Bike (Not Mine), NYC 2020

This was originally posted on LinkedIn in March of 2019. I am reposting it here, to coincide with the first Climatetech Advisors Open Roundtable Discussion, coming up Nov 17 2020.

Best,

Matthew

Climatetech: It's About Better Options For Buyers

From 2016 to 2018, I had the great fortune to participate in the Manylabs Open Science Fellowship, where Impossible Labs Co-Founder Tito Jankowski and I hosted climate opportunity roundtable discusssions about water, computerized farms, and carbon. In 2018, we supported the shift of the Manylabs program from Open Science to Emerging Climate Technologies, aligning conversations borne in the house of Open Science with the fields of growth businesses. We stood on the shoulders of the mature Cleantech world, already well-established in Silicon Valley, and we created a new field of Tech for a new era, one where the climate-smart option is simply the best option, even without its environmental characteristics. We called it ClimateTech, stylized as climatetech.

We started by exploring the question: How might we grow environmental technologies at the scale of Twitter, Uber, Airbnb? We didn't know the answer, so we started with a framework. This framework is a container, one in which climate solutions are also growth-oriented businesses. It is the raised bed, the aquaponic farm, the energy microgrid, the biodigester, the zero waste coffee shop, in which solutions can emerge and compete within our existing system. And who knows, maybe we'll just get to the better system.

All of this, in service of the mission: better options for buyers.

By working within the Tech framework, ClimateTech, or climatetech, products and services must compete on cost and performance. They unfold into environmentally positive businesses. This is part of the plan from day one.

Whether the buyer is in corporate purchasing or a retail consumer, a focus on better options will prove to be a critical solution to our climate woes. Yes, it is complex to implement. There is no rest for the weary. But there is value in the simple reminder. Far from the complexity of international climate science, better options for buyers is easy to remember. It is for you to ponder over coffee, on a walk, while making a presentation. It is the source of the Delighters your customers tell their family about at the dinner table.

Real talk: The majority of customers will always go with the least expensive, most convenient, best performing, best looking option. We know this. When our products and services win on cost, performance, and environment, it is delightful.

Corporate and bulk buyers have a lot of power. Opening our eyes to these possibilities will have the results they will talk about ten years from now. As a consumer, and we all are, our power comes from our buying choices. The new checklist: Yes, it's within my price range. Yes, it functions the way I want it to. And yes, it is transparent, it gives as much as it takes, it's about healthy ecosystems. It feels good, doesn't it?

I will leave it there. For anyone with a resolution to invest in green systems, try this: it's about better options for buyers. The clean, green, option must be the best option before anything else.

Next-Gen Sustainability 101

Greenhouse Gas Inventory & You

Many companies are considering their environmental impact these days. Some impacts are far away, in other countries, other regions of the country, some are in the middle of the ocean or in the upper atmosphere. Some are local, in our parks, aquifers, impacting the health of citizens through regular exposure to toxicity.

Achieving zero- or negative-emissions, net zero carbon, or net negative carbon, is a multi-faceted undertaking. One can purchase carbon offsets or donate to a nonprofit, possibly reporting net zero carbon on impact statements. However, as the organization grows, so will its environmental damage, and so will its offsets bills. The revenue officer won't like this. Instead, we can go beyond, investing in transformational change that improves weaknesses, enhances strengths, and tells the right story.

When we attempt transformational change toward a net-zero or net-negative carbon supply chain, we start by taking two paths: we perform a greenhouse gas inventory, sometimes called a Life Cycle Assessment, or “LCA,” and we undertake a carbon-waste-water assessment of the entire supply chain, including in all buildings and facilities. Creativity and vision are utilized to select an approach that reduces cost and risk, and increases quality and desirability.

Sustainability Forever

Next-generation sustainability is like an asymptote, or poetically, “infinity space.” Do we invest in our waste stream, our energy footprint, the multiple buildings in which we operate? Do we buy offsets? This is a strategic calculation based on your individual organization.

It's better to start today than wait until you’ve grown more or revenues have normalized. Now is the time to save money, increase profits, and increase your positive contribution to achieving a society free of waste. Many state and national governments have incentive programs for green procurement, and a growing number of customers demand it.

There may be no homeostasis in climate, but an enlightened anthropocene may be!

Creativity, People, Structure, Budget

The zero- or negative-emissions program itself must be supported by the Revenue Officer and stewarded by a cross-functional sustainability division. The effort needs nourishment, dedication, and endless support. It needs an annual budget, and a By-Laws amendment protecting the program from elimination in economic downturns. Writing a sustainability division into the By-Laws will surely enable organizations big and small to achieve net zero carbon in the next twenty years.

A growing number of citizens want to buy and build products and services that are climate solutions by design. So grab a piece of paper, a colleague, and start building your next-generation sustainability strategy today. Did you read my post about how rapid prototyping is a key to climate innovation?

Through collaboration across revenue generation, product, supply chain, and environmental impact accounting, we can improve quality in our organizations, and in the world.

Till next time,

Matthew

East River Park & An Engineering Design Requirement

A rendering of the original Rebuild By Design East Side Coastal Resilience Plan, Extending East River Park over the FDR Drive. This plan was scrapped and from December 2021 through February 2022, over 500 trees have been removed, despite consistent protests by local park activists.

Ecological Ignorance Causes New York City Politicians To Destroy East River Park

East Side Coastal Resilience Plan Can Protect, Expand Existing Ecosystems

By: Matthew C. Eshed

August 7, 2020 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This article was published as an Op-Ed in the Village Sun, a Downtown Manhattan online-only newspaper. It can be found here.

The City of New York has signed a death sentence to East River Park. That is, unless the East Side Coastal Resilience Plan adopts an engineering design requirement that the existing ecosystem not be destroyed.

In fall 2018, the East Side Coastal Resilience (ESCR) plan was “bait and switched” from one that protects the ecosystem to one that destroys it. This approach, set to go into motion later this year, commits the fatal error of destroying an existing ecosystem in the name of climate resilience. New Yorkers, particularly Lower East Siders, many of whom are low-income, deserve an East Side Coastal Resilience (ESCR) plan that is integrated and constructive. What’s more, during a pandemic, abundant green space and its many health benefits must be protected.

The plan misses key legislative actions taken in 2019: shortly after the community flood protection plan was replaced in early 2019, Governor Cuomo signed the ground-breaking New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) into law, setting requirements for deployment of renewable energy resources, greenhouse gas emissions standards, and environmental justice guidelines. In May of 2019, the New York City Council passed a resolution declaring a Climate Emergency, stating, “Climate justice calls for climate resilience planning that addresses the specific experiences, vulnerabilities, and needs of marginalized communities within New York City, who must be included and supported in actively engaging in climate resilience planning, policy, and actions.”  Leaders have a responsibility to adapt the ESCR to comply with these climate actions, and a design requirement to protect the ecosystem does just that.

Despite resistance from the Lower East Side communityfor the last 18 months, New York City’s destructive design has forged ahead, doing the opposite of what the CLCPA and the climate emergency declaration requires. In its path of destruction are 1,000 trees of 70 species, a habitat of at least 200 species of birds, fish, insects, plants, and neighborhood residents (such as squirrels), to be buried under 8 feet of landfill, with a new park built on top (Citizen science data from iNaturalist shows 500 species). All the while, the community has been sidelined, and their protests ignored. The people in charge have made it clear that they don’t care about the CLCPA, the climate emergency declaration, or the emissions impact of destroying a mature oxygen-giving ecosystem and bringing in hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of landfill.

We can, and we must, use our human ingenuity to design flood protection that works with the existing ecosystem and the communities who live around it. The justification for such a design approach is clear: the existing ecosystem is mature, and the park itself is an extremely valuable asset that should not be destroyed. The process by which the City has moved to destroy the ecosystem has been opaque, wasteful, and irresponsible. Visit the City’s webpage on the project and ironically you’ll see the Mayor touting earlier versions of the plan. This misleads some of our neighbors to believe that the City does not plan to wipe out the entire ecosystem.

Let me reiterate: the current City plan wipes out the existing ecosystem, home to multiple pollinators, including the monarch butterfly and yellow bumble bee, a “High Priority Species of Greatest Conservation Need” according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (source). This habitat is no accident or coincidence: citizens at the Lower East Side Ecology Center have planted milkweed and other pollinator habitats along the 2.5-mile stretch of the East River, providing habitat for the insects that are important links in the food chain for so many. To wipe out this habitat to build a “new park” on top, is to assign their existence zero value, having zero imagination, and zero understanding of the importance of protecting pollinator ecosystems.

In addition, the greenhouse gas emissions of barging in775,000 cubic yards of landfill and chopping down 1,000 mature trees will be measurable. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows us that 1,000 trees of 3’ diameter and 40’ height contains approximately 505,000 gal of water, and 239 tons of carbon dioxide (using formulas from the University of New Mexico). New York City and its Department of Design and Construction (DDC) have accepted a project that wastes valuable environmental resources, and looks very much “out of bounds” of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. In addition, the CLCPA requires working with communities to create good jobs, yet the City has done the opposite, sidelining the work of the community and ignoring their objections for the last 18 months. Most recently, the folks at East River Park Action live-tweeted the most recent Community Advisory Group meeting, showing support for a plan that does not destroy our park.

We can also approach this from a COVID-19 angle. A recent Harvard University study found that air pollution is a mortality factor for COVID-19, reporting that “an increase of only 1 μg/m3 in PM2.5 is associated with an 8% increase in the COVID-19 death rate (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2%, 15%).”  This shows us that we must not increase particulate in the air. Full stop.

East River Park and Stuyvesant Cove Park are critical refuges for people, and are pollutant capture systems. Moreover, overheating is a top climate change health worry in NYC, and destroying tree-covered ecosystems will exacerbate the problem. The fact that the City is considering spending in excess of $1 billion to destroy this critical asset is an enormous blunder, especially in the midst of unprecedented budget deficits. Elected officials, from the local Council Member Carlina Rivera, the Parks Department, and the Mayor, have a fiduciary and social responsibility to protect the existing ecosystem, and they must advocate for flood protection that does not destroy it. In fact, the Natural Resources Survey in the Appendix of the Final Environmental Impact Statement says that the volume of bird calls “was qualitatively almost as loud as the traffic on the adjacent FDR Drive.” That is an asset worth protecting in New York City, especially at a time when mental health is on the decline.

The good news is that we already have a park infrastructure design, a social infrastructure design, and a stewardship model. In 2013, then-Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s office commissioned the East River Blueway Plan, an integrated flood damage mitigation design that extends East River Park over the FDR Drive. A coalition of Lower East Side community organizations created the People’s Plan, a social infrastructure design to complement the physical design for the park. In 2018, The Trust For Public Land published a stewardship model for the park. An engineering design requirement that the existing ecosystem be protected is a constructive approach that complies with the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the climate emergency declaration, and the reality of living through a pandemic.

I encourage you to read the history, from the articles shared on eastriverparkaction.org to the testimony made by State Senators Hoylman, Kavanagh, and Assemblymember Epstein in September 2019 to the NYC Office of Management and Budget, in which they share the same concerns described in this article. This argument has significant community and legislative backing. The fact that it has taken this long to resist the destruction is a testament to the work that lies ahead in raising the ecological consciousness of New Yorkers, and in implementing the nation-leading 2019 CLCPA.

Please, take some time and come see our beautiful park. You won’t be disappointed, and I’m sure you will see the great potential it has, if only we have the imagination to see it. See you there.

Support the people doing this work at East River Park Action, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, by going to their website and making a tax-deductible donation today. EastRiverParkAction.org

Matthew Eshed is a systems designer, engineer, and entrepreneur working full time on climate innovation since 2016. He is born and raised in New York City, and believes that New Yorkers have a great opportunity to show the world what visionary climate innovation looks like. His latest venture is Climatetech Advisors, a next-generation sustainability advisory service and media company. He can be reached at contact@climatetechadvisors.com