The 2022 Energy & Environment Power 100
Mychal Johnson, Founding Member and Advisory Board Member, South Bronx Unite
City & State
By: City & State
The push for clean energy is picking up steam in New York.
The Hochul administration is advancing major renewable energy projects, including offshore wind developments, solar farms and transmission lines. The state budget boosted funding for climate change mitigation, mandated electric school buses and advanced a $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act that will go before voters later this year.
In New York City, legislation enacted in December will ban fossil fuel use in new buildings, which follows an earlier measure requiring large property owners to reduce carbon emissions. In January, New York City Mayor Eric Adams pledged to invest in resiliency projects, complete a comprehensive environmental justice study and install solar panels on public buildings across the city.
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The high concentrations of toxic air particulates and asthma rates that plague the South Bronx are a byproduct of years of climate injustice and systemic racism. The organization that Mychal Johnson co-founded, South Bronx Unite, has sought to reduce air pollution at its source by demanding the state implement congestion pricing to reduce vehicle traffic through his neighborhood’s highways and pressuring the New York Power Authority to close four natural gas-fired peaker plants that have spewed toxins for two decades.
