Ithaca's Green New Deal pushed forward by newly adopted Justice50 resolution
Ithaca’s Common Council recently adopted Justice50, an action plan to address and aid underserved communities most impacted by the negative effects of climate change, and further the goals of Ithaca's Green New Deal.
The council committed the city to several actions as part of the initiative, including investing at least 50% of all Ithaca Green New Deal funding in underserved communities (which the resolution calls “Climate Justice Communities,” or CJCs), ensuring at least 40% of participants in green workforce training programs identify as CJCs or other marginalized groups.
The city will also invest at least 50% of its total capital project budget in climate-impacted or marginalized communities, and allocate 10% of the total capital project budget to participatory budgeting.
“Adopting Justice50 is our commitment to living up to our residents’ expectations for the Ithaca Green New Deal (IGND),” City of Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo said in a Thursday statement. “When we adopted the IGND in 2019, we pledged to ensure that the benefits of the IGND were shared among all community members in an effort to reduce historic social, economic, and environmental inequities – the Justice50 framework enables us to do that.”
Past climate efforts and Justice50 transparency
Cantelmo said, in instituting Justice50, Ithaca sets a standard for others to follow and will build an inclusive and sustainable future. This move is the latest in a series of climate-related “firsts” for the city of Ithaca.
In 2019, the city became the first to commit to carbon neutrality by 2030, in 2021 it adopted the first net-zero building code in New York State and in 2022, Ithaca made international headlines by launching the first-of-its-kind electrification program, Electrify Ithaca.
City officials recently announced a major milestone for the program: 175 electrified buildings in Ithaca since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ithaca’s first City Manager, Deb Mohlenhoff, who was appointed in January 2024, said last week that she’s excited to implement the Justice50 framework as she builds the city’s FY 2025 budget and looks forward to collaborating with community members to design the participatory budget process, expecting to present complete drafts to council sometime in 2025.
City staff, led by Director of Sustainability Rebecca Evans, Sustainability Planner Savannah Vega, Director of Planning & Development Lisa Nicholas, and Mohlenhoff, will create a project rubric and reporting structure to standardize and publicize capital budget allocations for Justice50.
New York State Sen. Lea Webb applauded the city’s efforts last week.
"The city of Ithaca just made history by unanimously voting to make climate justice a centerpiece of the Ithaca Green New Deal,” she said. “I applaud Mayor Cantelmo, City Alderpersons, and Sustainability Director Rebecca Evans for their leadership and for implementing a nation-leading policy to ensure that Ithaca’s historic investment in environmental sustainability is equitable and accessible to everyone in our community, including low-income people and seniors.”
This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Ithaca green new deal justice 50 resolution
