How it feels to be a climate organizer during NYC’s smoke apocalypse
“It’s super unsettling. Everything seems slower, eerie,” Lizzy Oh said to Supercreator. “I am coming to terms with the fact that this has been a lot of people’s realities.”
FIRST THINGS FIRST
New York City this week earned the dubious distinction of being choked with the worst air quality in the world as the northeastern US found itself under a smoggy haze so intense folks who swore off masks months ago reapplied them to avoid breathing the hazardous pollution.
In case you’ve made it this far in the week oblivious to the smoke apocalypse, here’s what happened: Smoke from 250 fires in Canada was carried across the border by a weather system that rapidly gloomed the skies around NYC and the surrounding regions to various degrees, including Washington, DC.
Lizzy Oh, a New York City-based coalition organizer with Public Power NY, a statewide movement made up of 20 climate, community, and advocacy organizations, described the experience to Supercreator in an interview on Wednesday night.
“It’s super unsettling. Physically, you go outside, the sun is a glowing orange ball. Everything seems slower, eerie,” she said. “And you walk a couple blocks, and all of a sudden it gets harder to breathe, you start getting dizzy, a little nauseated. So physically, you’re actually literally feeling, ‘Oh, the climate crisis is here.’”
Then there’s the existential side of the coin.
“I am coming to terms with the fact that this has been a lot of people’s realities. If you’re in a frontline community, you were probably living next to toxic power plants or a Superfund site and being exposed to air quality as bad as this, if not worse, every day of your life,” Oh added. “And if you’re on the west coast, we’ve seen multiple wildfires very recently where the air was blanketed in smoke.”
Although these climate emergencies trigger heaviness and grief, they also reinforce the resolve in organizers like Oh as they push for federal solutions like the Green New Deal — with joy and optimism as guiding lights.
“They truly cannot take joy away from us. My organizing philosophy has always been, ‘It needs to be grounded in love.’ Sometimes we organize out of spite and that can take you places. But really what will sustain you over the long run is love,” she said. “Joy is essential for our movement and it really is the building block that keeps us together. And if you have a community who can hold you up, then it makes that work so much better and easier.”
Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman has been at the forefront of the climate justice movement since he was elected to Congress. And although states like his achieved incredible climate wins during the most recent legislative session and Congress passed the biggest investment in US history to fight the climate crisis last year, the congressman encouraged climate organizers to sustain the movement through next year’s election and beyond.
“We really have to increase voter turnout in statewide and national elections in states and counties across the country. That’s a huge lift and a big obstacle but I know we got the numbers. We got the people to actually do it,” he said during an Instagram Live event hosted by the Green New Deal Network. “We need to be celebrating next November taking back the House, growing the Senate, and winning the presidency because even though a lot of my colleagues are corporate [Democrats], because of the power of the progressive movement over the last several years, they are now forced to do what’s right with regard to climate.”
President Joe Biden was first briefed last week on the wildfires and regularly updated since, according to the White House. He spoke with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on Wednesday and discussed continued cooperation to prevent wildfires and respond to the community health impacts from them.
The White House has deployed 600 US firefighters and personnel and equipment like water bombers to help Canada fight the fires. The administration has also closely connected with state and local leaders, including Michigan, Illinois, and New York. Multiple agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, CDC, and FEMA, are coordinating with state, local, and tribal governments to share timely and accurate information on what people in impacted communities can do to protect themselves.
According to an analysis of computer forecast models, the worst period of hazy, unhealthy air in New York City will last through this morning. At press time, air quality is very hazardous in NYC; hazardous in Philadelphia; unhealthy in Washington, DC; and moderate in Boston and Chicago. Readings above 300 on the EPA’s air quality index indicate that the air is hazardous.
“I know for many communities out west, this is nothing new. They experience this every year, but it is certainly getting worse,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday. “It is yet another alarming example of all the ways in which the climate crisis is disturbing our lives and communities.”
Go to AirNow.gov or download the AirNow app from the App Store for real-time information about air quality and precautions you can take.
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! It’s Thursday, June 8, 2023. You’re reading Supercreator Daily, your morning guide to the politicians, power brokers, and policies shaping the American creator experience.
TODAY IN POLITICS
All times Eastern
9:35 a.m. Vice President Harris will depart Washington, DC to Nassau, The Bahamas, where she will arrive at 12:10 p.m.
10 a.m. President Biden will receive his daily intelligence briefing in the Oval Office. The Senate is in.
11:30 a.m. The president will hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom in the Oval Office. The Senate will vote to confirm Dilawar Syed to be Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration and advance the nomination of Molly Silfen to be a judge on the Court of Federal Claims.
1:30 p.m. Biden and Sunak will hold a joint press conference in the East Room.
2:15 p.m. The vice president will participate in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Philip Davis of The Bahamas.
1:45 p.m. The Senate will vote to confirm the Silfen nomination if it passes the previous procedural vote.
3 p.m. Harris will receive leaders attending the US-Caribbean Leaders Meeting.
4:10 p.m. The vice president will co-host the US-Caribbean Leaders Meeting, alongside Prime Minister Davis.
6:45 p.m. Harris will meet with US Embassy Nassau staff and their families.
7 p.m. The president will host a Pride celebration with Betty Who on the South Lawn.
8:10 p.m. The vice president will depart Nassau to return to DC at 10:30 p.m.
The House is out.
THEY DID THAT
House Republican leadership canceled votes until Monday evening after a group of House conservatives continued to block a procedural measure on a series of messaging bills to go forward due to petty grievances with Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called on the Senate to do more to fight the climate crisis in the wake of smoggy air across the northeastern US from Canadian wildfires.
The leaders of the Congressional Black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific American Caucuses and Democratic Women’s Caucus led 70-plus members in a letter to Senate leadership to confirm Julie Su as the next Labor Secretary.
Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, defended Su from Republican attacks during a hearing.
Democratic Rep. David Scott of Georgia warned House Republicans he would stand firm against efforts to further reduce SNAP benefits in the upcoming farm bill.
Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Tina Smith of Minnesota, Democratic Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Yadira Caraveo, Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas, and Republican Reps. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon and Tracey Mann of Kansas introduced legislation that would direct the Agriculture Department to prioritize projects that expanded and lowered the costs of childcare in rural communities.
Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana launched the South Korea Caucus to mark the 70th anniversary of the US’s alliance with the country.
Senate Democratic leadership withdrew a procedural vote to advance the nomination of Dale Ho to be District Judge for the Southern District of New York due to attendance issues.
Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California gave a floor speech about RuPaul in honor of Pride Month.
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida shared their love of sneakers in the halls of the Capitol.
President Biden announced a new slate of judicial nominees, including the first person of color to sit on the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana if confirmed. Nine Black Democrats immediately asked the president to withdraw the nominations.
The White House claimed grocery inflation is cooling ahead of next week’s Consumer Price Index for May: “At the end of the day, the goal is to make grocery prices more affordable for households,” it wrote in a blog post. “While the job is not done yet and there is considerable uncertainty around the outlook, we appear to be moving in the right direction.”
CNN fired CEO and Chairman Chris Licht after several disparaging comments in a devastating profile in The Atlantic capped off a year of business and editorial missteps.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
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“Plant burgers are way better for the planet than beef, but [coconut and cacao] threaten tropical ecosystems” by Nithin Coca
“Finally, a solution to plastic pollution that’s not just recycling” by Benji Jones
“How the cowboy was colonized” by Andrea Long Chu
“There’s no culture like crawfish boil culture” by Amy McCarthy
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