When she is Zohran Mamdani Last Tuesday in New York City, Batul Hassan should be thrilled. The mayor’s candidate — a 33-year-old state legislative bishop — has surged in polls and will beat Andrew Cuomo with the Democratic primary’s first preference vote in a few hours.
But Hassan’s spirit was hampered by record temperatures. In Crown Heights, she is the field captain of the Mamdani sport, and the calorie index soars into triple digits.
“I didn’t expect anything except heat,” she said. “It’s too dangerous.”
In the early hours of that Tuesday, Hassan visited a public school voting site where senior workers were stuffy without air conditioning. The City Election Commission sent paper fans, but they didn’t match.
If Mamdani is elected, the school can be remodeled with air conditioning and green spaces to lower the temperature as part of his Green School Programand can even be transformed into a resilient hub for community shelters in extreme weather events.
“Seeing the entire infrastructure failure on Election Day highlights what happened to the climate crisis and the importance of the election,” Hassan said.
Mamdani’s Green School Plan is just one of his plans to cut carbon emissions and promote environmental justice. If elected mayor, his plan New York Hassan said Manchester City will keep residents “safeteria” from extreme weather.
But the democratic socialists recognized by the environmental justice group led by the state youth and the student-led climate group recognized by democratic socialists Treageinstead of putting the climate crisis at the center of the campaign, chooses to relentlessly focus on the cost of living. Proponents say the model could help build universal support for climate policy.
“Climate and quality of life are not two separate issues,” Mamdani Tell the country In April. “In fact, they are one of the same.”
Over the past two decades, Democrats have been increasingly concerned about the climate. But usually, their proposed plans are technocratic, Hassan said. For example, carbon taxes can be complex, which makes it difficult for them to candidates for public support. Hassan said they could also make a return economically, “working class people use it as an additional cost.”
Recently, Joe Biden has combined climate plans with green industrial policies and plans to promote employment. But even these projects can take years to influence tangible changes, critics say. As president, Biden has achieved historic climate investment in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). But its green incentives Disproportionately benefit the richand its job creation is still invisible to most people in the country. A poll found Only one quarter Americans feel that the IRA benefits.
“Now, with Trump, we see the trap of the IRA, and there are really difficulties in consolidating enough political support to defend these climate policy achievements,” Hassan said.
Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialist America who supported the Mamdani campaign, said Mamdani “learned what he learned from some of the mistakes in the Biden administration.” his Housing PlanFor example, it aims to reduce pollution from planetary heating by increasing density, but his signature promise is frozen.
This commitment ensures that residents don’t come out of New York City and are forced to move to more Carbon-intensive suburbsHassan said and prevented landlords from passing on energy efficiency upgrades or air conditioning installation costs to renters to prevent displacement.
Similarly, Mamdani’s title transportation goal is to make buses faster and free, which may boost passenger volume and prevent the use of carbon-intensive cars.
“Public transportation is one of the greatest gifts we have to enjoy during the climate crisis.” Said at the Mayor’s Forum in February.
Godillo said Biden’s Irish Ira has little focus on improving public transport. He said it was an opportunity to cut emissions and reduce fuel costs for Americans.
“We need to expand mass transport to fight the climate crisis, which is not the top priority for democratic institutions,” said Godillo, who is an electrician during the day. “But we need to expand it, because we want to improve people’s lives now.”
As raised in the New York Conference, Mamdani supports clear green policies. He is a key advocate for improvement Public renewable energy production. The effort aimed at helping New York “to realize our dreams as climate leaders”, He said In 2022.
He also fights Fossil fuel construction. He combines this climate focus with efforts to keep energy bills low, consistently be opposed to Kim Fraczek, director of the climate nonprofit rational source project, said local utilities are trying to impose interest rates.
“His growing political influence is a clear victory for communities demanding transition: renewable capacity, democratic control and relief to mitigate energy costs,” Fraczek said.
Progressive cities like New York are often climate leaders. But if they price workers, only the rich can see the benefits of their green policies, Mamdani supporters said.
They say Democratic nominees have also built bases for New Yorkers who will defend those plans against threats from the Trump administration.
“New Yorkers want an affordable city, clean and green schools, fast, free buses and rent freezes,” said Daniel Goulden, co-chair of the Ecological Socialism Working Group of Democratic Socialists in New York City. “But most importantly, New Yorkers want a future — a future they can live and thrive in New York.”
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