RAC NY and the Climate Covenant 

In 2022, RAC-NY launched Climate Covenant, a campaign designed to combat climate change with the goal of bringing together Reform Jews and partnering with others across lines of race, faith, and class in joint action to end our dependence on fossil fuels. The stakes are high, and the potential benefit for all of us is great. Read more about campaign timeline and RAC-NY supported bills to decrease natural gas usage in buildings.

Advocacy Initiatives

Renewable Rikers

The Renewable Rikers Act was introduced in the City Council on June 13, 2019. The three bills, which together form Renewable Rikers, create a framework to reach our state- and city-wide climate goals through a renewable, regenerative, and restorative post-carceral Rikers Island.

In February 2021, the three bills that comprise the Renewable Rikers Act passed with overwhelming support in the City Council and were signed into law by Mayor Bill de Blasio. But our work is just beginning; the fight continues to advance this transformation on the fastest possible timeline and with the greatest possible benefits to impacted communities. 

Led by Freedom Agenda (https://fa.urbanjustice.org/) and with the support of the New York Jewish Coalition for Criminal Justice Reform, we continue to work for the closure of Rikers Island.