WE ACT for Environmental Justice
At a Glance
Industry
Nonprofit
Project Types
Clean and Renewable Energy, Climate Justice/Energy Equity, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy
Year
2024
Location
New York, NY
Summary
Kusi Manu supported WE ACT's commitment to environmental justice and climate action by identifying a robust and more ambitious New York Cap-and Invest (NYCI) program to support Disadvantaged Communities in Northern Manhattan.
Goals
With the increasing effects of climate change globally and specifically the impact it has on Disadvantaged Communities in New York State (NYS), WE ACT for Environmental Justice selected Kusi Manu to carry out in-depth analysis and engage with stakeholders on the proposed New York Cap-and-Invest (NYCI) program to uncover approaches that would help cleaner energy technology transition and mitigate the associated consumer cost impacts within Disadvantaged Communities (DACs).
Solutions
Kusi approached the challenge using demographic analysis. He meticulously reviewed documents comprising New York State cost and affordability studies, Northern Manhattan Climate Action Plan Draft (NMCAP), EDF preliminary data and analysis and other New York State Energy Research Development and Authority (NYSERDA) documents. He identified gaps in the studied investment period and expected revenue which informed that a more ambitious program would be required to support the low- and middle-income (LMI) households represented under the NYSERDA census data. Through the Senior Policy Manager for Energy Justice at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Kusi engaged with stakeholders from Switch Box, EDF, to discuss how a community-directed and place-based NYCI program can be implemented through a more ambitious program. Informed by findings from his analyses and discussions, he played a vital role in laying out recommendations that would be critical for policymakers, decision-makers and other stakeholders towards clean energy technology transition, broader and comprehensive community support and development and mitigating the negative impacts of climate change in DACs in Northern Manhattan.
Potential Impact
A more ambitious program thus a higher allowance price ceiling to the proposed prices and a declining emission cap would generate high revenues for the Investment Account within the Climate Investment Fund. This would allow for a robust program where they are sufficient resources available for the community-driven and place-based NYCI program that covers all LMI households (up to $75K annual income) in Disadvantaged communities in Northern Manhattan and between 2.99 million and 5.88 million households (up to $150K) in NYS. This represents support for between 38% and 76% of the total NYS households based on income bands reported in the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS).