On March 12, joined by three members of Congress on the steps of New York City Hall, CPD, core partner organizations Make the Road New York (MRNY) and New York Communities for Change (NYCC), and other key progressive partners launched a major new national initiative on climate change.

Building a new cohort of climate leadership among elected officials, the campaign – TakeSides.org – is driven by CPD partner organizations and allies deeply rooted in the low-income communities of color that are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. These organizations, many of which have not historically been engaged in the climate movement, are helping to bring critical new voices and capacities to the movement, reframing climate from an abstract environmental issue to one of deeply personal economic, social, and racial justice impacts.

“It is clearer than ever that our climate system is being disrupted by the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere resulting from human activity” says Zoilo Blas, a member of MRNY. “The worst part of this catastrophe is that those of us who are burdened the most are those who contribute to climate change the least. That’s why Latino and immigrant New Yorkers are calling for climate justice now!”

Attended by over 100 members of MRNY, NYCC, and other allies, the TakeSides.org launch heralded a new moment in CPD and its partners’ climate organizing and in the broader work to force climate action at the scale and rate truly needed to address the crisis we face.