The Resilience PAC envisions that New York will be a place where communities can thrive physically, socially and economically in the face of climate change and other stressors.
Mission
The Resilience PAC’s mission is to help elect candidates who are dedicated to ensuring that all of New York City’s people, communities and neighborhoods thrive amid the challenges of climate change.
Our goal is to enhance the diverse communities and ecologies that contribute to New York’s unique character and quality of life. We especially want to ensure that people of color and low income communities across the five boroughs are able to pursue safe and healthy lives in the context of climate change, and can participate in conversations and decisions on related issues and policies that affect their own future.
Each candidate we support understands that adapting to climate change requires a holistic response that identifies intersecting stressors and develops solutions which address social, ecological, and physical vulnerabilities simultaneously. These policy solutions should make New York City a better place to live every day, and in times of crisis.
Candidates will commit to proactively pursuing programs, policies and investments that reduce these vulnerabilities, triggered by major shocks and slow disasters. New Yorkers will be empowered to live better lives every day, and enabled to prepare for and bounce back from the shock of extreme events.
The Resilience PAC will support candidates who share our commitment and approach to THE FOLLOWING:
Holistic planning is critical to designing infrastructure. Publicly funded infrastructure projects should provide interrelated and multiple improvements that maximize social, environmental, physical and economic benefits.
Effectively managing the long-term effects of climate change requires redressing underlying and widespread inequities with progressive projects that prioritize individuals and communities who need it most, and that short-term actions must build upon a long-term vision for resilient communities.
Planning for a resilient future in which communities thrive and adapt to the effects of climate change includes making long-term investments in maintaining and building infrastructure such as affordable housing, open space, clean water, and transit, and creating redundancy in our life-saving systems such as clean drinking water sources, and back-up energy.
To adequately prepare our communities for the future and ensure we do not have to repeat our investments, infrastructure projects and policies must center science and use climate change and sea level rise projections for the lifespan of the project.
Vision
Resilience PAC Diversity Statement
Resilience is an issue of equity, access and justice. While it affects a wide swath of communities throughout New York City, the lack of investment in combating climate change disproportionately impacts communities of color and historically disenfranchised communities. Poor air quality, lack of or underfunded/unfunded public green space, flooding and extreme weather have wrecked the health and wellbeing of these communities and have remained ongoing issues that need to be prioritized by legislators and those seeking to represent New Yorkers.
Because Resilience PAC was created to elevate the importance of a resilient city for all New Yorkers, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) should be at the center of Resilience PAC’s values and goals. To this end, Resilience PAC is committed to the following goals as it relates to DEIJ:
Putting resources and attention toward improving the engagement, recruitment, retention and elevation of members from communities of color and historically disenfranchised communities;
Creating a DEIJ committee made up of other committee leads that will be charged with ensuring that Resilience PAC makes decisions through a DEIJ lens. The committee, which will be headed by two co-leads, will meet 1-2 times a month to review policies and decide on issues that will ultimately be presented to the full membership for a vote;
Considering and incorporating the thoughts, feedback and language access needs of the most affected communities in communications, marketing materials and other public facing collateral, in consultation with the Communications committee. The Communications committee will include a rotating member of the DEIJ committee, who will work to ensure that materials are culturally competent and inclusive. This rotating member will consult with the full DEIJ committee as needed;
Elevating the voices of members of color and those in historically disenfranchised communities by providing opportunities and support for leadership within Resilience PAC;
Collaborating with community-based organizations who serve communities of color and historically disenfranchised communities and following their lead when appropriate.
Showcasing the perspectives of community stakeholders to provide avenues for expanded discussion, thought and understanding.
The work to combat climate change must be inclusive, and Resilience PAC’s commitment to these goals is critical to successful climate adaptation for all New York City communities.