Electric Cars? Fine. But What About Buses?

Electric vehicles are great, but what about buses running on time?

Leticia Colon de Mejias said that the people she talks to through her work as an environmental justice activist cannot afford electric vehicles, even if the state subsidizes discounted prices. They care more about getting from one place to another safely by bus.

“They have other pressing responsibilities, like struggling to survive. Thus they might not be here with us tonight,” Colon de Mejias said.

Colon de Mejias brought that message, and a couple of young people concerned about the future of the planet, to the Sound School in New Haven’s City Point neighborhood on Tuesday night. The occasion was a kick-off meeting for the revived Governor’s Council on Climate Change (GC3), which is charged with planning a green – and equitable – future for the state.

“This is one of the most important meetings we’re going to have this year. If we’re not addressing inequities, we’re not going to be successful in achieving our goals,” said Commissioner Katie Dykes, who runs the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

Connecticut has a long history of climate advocacy as the first state to declare that humans were causing climate change and pass laws to work on it. However, not all of these efforts have taken racial, economic or other disparities into account.

When Gov. Ned Lamont reconvened former Gov. Dan Malloy’s GC3 last fall, he listed protecting the communities most vulnerable to climate change as a focus.

Seven working groups will recommend actions for the state topics from using forests take carbon out of the atmosphere to what new technology can help to how to pay for it all. The council will turn the recommendations into a final report by December – just in time to pass any necessary laws next year.

According to Dykes, one of the most important topics in the bunch is the focus of an Equity and Environmental Justice Working Group. Lee Cruz and Marianne Engelman Lado chair the group. Cruz, a Chatham Square community organizer, directs outreach for the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. Engelman Lado runs an environmental justice clinic at Yale.

All of the working groups have short timelines. The equity group’s work is among the most urgent because it informs the others. 

James Albis, the DEEP staff member running the GC3, said he hopes members of the equity group will attend other meetings to insert perspectives on equity where they are missing. The equity chairs will also check chapters created by other groups once complete.

On Tuesday, equity group attendees brainstormed other ways they could incorporate perspectives on climate justice into the GC3.

Could they create a matrix for other groups to follow to ensure they continued to think about equity? Could all minutes and chapter drafts be posted online so members of the equity group could comment on other groups without traveling?

And the perennial urban planning question — how do they reach those most vulnerable who were not in the room that night?

Multiple attendees suggested paying minority and low-income leaders for their expertise or a stipend for attending meetings. Another attendee suggested providing childcare.

Windsor High School student Alia Salem pointed out that the main social media used to promote the event was on Facebook. She said that Instagram and perhaps Twitter would be better ways to draw out young people.

Salem came to the event with Colon de Mejias. She and another high school attendee are part of Colon de Mejias’ Green Eco Warriors program, which meets weekly in Colon de Mejias’ kitchen to learn about climate change and plan demonstrations.

Salem has also participated in New Haven Climate Movement activities, like writing Valentine’s Day cards in City Hall about their love for the planet.

The meeting ran over its scheduled time in the Sound School library. Engelman Lado said they would post the minutes and would plan their next steps from there.

“It’s hard to get a lot done in a big group,” Clean Water Fund liaison Guy West said after the meeting. ​“But there were a lot of good ideas.”