COALITION - REPORT - OF WESTERN
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CLEAN AIR
COALITION
OF WESTERN
NEW YORK
2020
ANNUAL
Design by
REPORT
Molly Rose Murphy
Illustrations by ED PRINTING
ALLI
Elise Stukenberg TRADES UNION
LABEL COUNCIL
BUFFALO
61
D PRINTING
ALLIE
BUFFALO
This year’s annual report is dedicated
to all of those we lost in 2020. We will
continue to tell your stories, keep you in
our hearts, and keep building a movement
for a kinder and more just world.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
2020 GROUNDING
WHO WE ARE 4
A MESSAGE FROM CLEAN AIR’S
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 6
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 8
CAMPAIGN TEAMS
Tonawanda Coke 12
Huntley 14
American Axle 15
Tesla 17
Seneca Babcock &
Diane’s Land 19
Membership &
Grassroots Fundraising 20
2020 FINANCIALS 22
2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 23
2020 STAFF 23
1
2020
GROUNDING
2020 was hard to endure and al- and communities for generations. They
most as hard to describe: we heard weren’t created by the pandemic, but they
the word unprecedented so much were strengthened by the pandemic, with
between May and December, our for-profit healthcare system, structural
it seemed to lose any meaning. racism, structural poverty, ableism, and
We call this semantic sanitation: the cruelties of capitalism made visible in
when you hear a word too many new ways, even to many of us who have
times in a row, it loses its power, been impacted by them for many years.
gets reduced to just a collection of The things we are fighting have always
syllables that don’t seem to add up been killing us. COVID built on the systems
to anything. of death and exploitation we’ve been
The pandemic took more from us and fighting to dismantle for years.
our communities than we were able to When news broke that people living
make sense of, losing the routines and with higher rates of air pollution faced
rituals of our lives, from the mundane higher risks of illness and death from
to the holy. We’ve missed a year of COVID, we were furious, but not surprised:
graduations, birthdays, weddings, we’ve been in this work for more than a
holidays, births, and deaths. The decade, and we know why environmental
ways we fill our lives with meaning justice is urgent. When the federal govern-
were paused, and it was both tragic ment suspended enforcement of air pollu-
and disorienting: is today Tuesday tion regulations, we were angrier still, and
or Wednesday? What is Tuesday, did what we do best: we got to work.
anyway? We know our best shot at survival is
The crises that shaped our lives in strong relationships with each other,
in 2020 have been shaping our lives anchored in deep love, community care,
2
and support. We do of the systems profiting off our sickness,
work together to care suffering, and deaths.
for, sustain, love, and What did we do in 2020? A whole lot:
support each other, and we mostly kept working. Because we know
don’t stop there, because we our work is both to take care of each other
know we deserve more than and to keep focused on the root causes.
survival. We need and de-
serve healthy, thriving, vibrant
communities. And we know
that requires transformation:
of ourselves and our communities, and
3WHO WE ARE
Over the years, but in particular, over this Leadership Development
past year, we have seen over and over “In order to be a leader or speak on
again that we are not just a staff of four; leadership, you have to know what
we are much bigger. Clean Air runs deep. it means. To me, leadership is having
We have six Campaign Teams, over 350 positive and productive attributes to be
Members and Supporters, and dozens of a social influence, motivating others to
partners across the country that not only put their best foot forward towards a
have our back but are leading the work common goal. Leadership requires us to
hand-in-hand. be organized, have time management
This year, we did what we always do: skills, and be role models. We build
we came together to care for one anoth- leadership by sharing our lives with
er through hard times and build a more each other during hard times, trying new
beautiful and clear vision for the world things, offering uplifting and motivating
that we all deserve. We were true to our feedback, and always pushing forward
values day in and day out: Leadership together. We always take the time to truly
Development, Environmental Justice, Dem- listen to each other. At Clean Air, we’ve
ocratic Decision-making, Resident Knowl- learned to be resourceful and diligent
edge, Race & Class Equity & Inclusion, and in putting our leadership skills to use.
Appreciation, Recognition & Celebration. Clean Air has helped me become more
The following Clean Air Campaign Leader self aware, prioritize, think strategically
testimonies capture these lived values. and innovatively, and take action. When
one of us takes a risk and shows up
Resident Knowledge with courage, we all become stronger
“What I like about working with Clean Air and braver. We make each other better
is that they help members carry out our leaders every day.”
vision to move our campaigns forward. —Tim Moore, Tesla Campaign Team
Our experience and our ideas are always
the foundation of our work together.”
—Diane Lemanski, Diane’s Land
4Appreciation, Recognition group is able to procure and the
and Celebration relationships the organization develops.
“It can be difficult to The Clean Air Coalition excels at
recognize and appreciate both. The list of accomplishments of
the work that we’ve put into Clean Air is substantial. They include
something because we get hung up on the groundbreaking creation of the
the things that could have been different, Tonawanda Community Working Group,
but that does not change what we’ve the future dreams of Diane’s Land, a seat
created. So often we build something out at the table to fully realize the potential
of nothing. The work that we do every at the Huntley Site, and much more.
day constantly pushes for a cleaner, more Our Contact List includes government
just tomorrow. We put time, effort, love, entities private parties, and of course
and hard work into manifesting a change the hundred of Clean Air Members/
we want to see in the world. And so we Supporters. Success and access to power
always stop to celebrate . . . we motivate are hallmarks and powerful reasons why I
ourselves to keep moving forward by dedicate my time and energy to Clean Air.
appreciating what we have already done The path forward is always forward.”
and taking rest so we don’t burn out.” —Gary M. Schulenberg,
—Robert Walsh, Clean Air Huntley Campaign Team
Membership Team
Race & Class Equity & Inclusion
Environmental Justice “This community deserves to live in a safe
“I am a member of Clean Air because of and protected neighborhood. Some of
their values. I believe in living in harmony our team members live close to the site
with the Laws of nature to keep our are dedicated to seeing the area cleaned
communities and people in a safe and up. As always, we welcome all interested
healthy environment free of harmful individuals to join us in our efforts to
chemicals in the air and water. We need clean up the American Axle sitel and
to make sure this happens for our future return to a healthy neighborhood”
generations to come.” —Ms. Della Miller, American
—Sue Kelley, Tonawanda Axle Campaign Team
Coke Campaign Team
Democratic Decision-making
“The power of a cause or movement
is often measured by the results the
5A MESSAGE
FROM
CLEAN AIR’S
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
Dear Members and Friends reflect on our wins, our team found new
of Clean Air, shared spaces, welcoming one another
In the midst of a global pandemic, our into our homes over video chat. We made
work couldn’t wait. This past year was not sure our members had what they needed
an easy one. While we and checked in on one
couldn’t share the another throughout the
same table to plan year. When others
our actions and thought we were
6no longer watching, we made our voices means to be a member of Clean Air, creat-
louder. We adapted, we came together, ing tools like our Membership Handbook
and we continued to organize. Our work and Membership Cards to celebrate and
in 2020 did not slow down. It showed us recognize our work and our voices.
that our organizing is needed now more We ended 2020 with some big changes
than ever. happening in our mighty little organiza-
We are grateful to share with you the tion. As we said goodbye to our friend
work our teams accomplished over the and comrade, Rebecca Newberry, we were
past year. Our member-led campaigns surrounded by Members and Supporters
brought the residents of Tonawanda to that showed us over and over again that
the table to ensure remediation is done they believe in the power of our organiza-
in a way that benefits the community first tion and our collective vision for a better
and foremost and continues to fight to world for all of us.
ensure the same representation is given to 2020 was devastating, and we know
the residents of the Delavan Grider com- that so many of our people will continue
munity. Former Tesla workers showed us to feel its effects in the next year. As we
that an economy built on climate justice continue to care for our people, organize
cannot be divorced from racial and eco- for justice and reimagine what’s possible,
nomic justice, that we cannot continue to we are humbled by each of you who have
subsidize billionaires and corporations at joined us in that commitment.
the expense of working-class communities We are looking ahead with hope and
and communities of color. Members in the excitement to our next chapter as an or-
Seneca-Babcock community reimagined ganization as we continue to boldly build
an abandoned toxic site, utilizing Diane’s and organize.
Land, a community-controlled land trust, With hope and justice,
to continue the fight to ‘green’ their neigh- Jennifer Carman
borhood. We reminded each other what it Chair, Board of Directors
7LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
Clean Air builds power by know that our people know more than
developing grassroots leaders they think they do.
who organize their communi- Clean Air’s and Allen Street Consulting’s
ties to run and win environmental annual non-profit finance training reviews
justice and public health campaigns. Our where our organizational resources come
organizing work is planned and executed from and how to read commonly used
through campaign teams that consist of financial statements. Twenty members
members who live in, and are inherently attended our 2020 training, and are one
experts on, their communities. step closer to supporting WNY nonprofits
While the system and people that are through serving on a Board of Directors.
currently in power regularly devalue and
underestimate the power of our people,
Clean Air’s leadership development work GRASSROOTS FUNDRAISING
uplifts our members’ truths and lived
TRAINING
experiences and the power of collective
action and organizing. At Clean Air, we don’t see fundraising
This work takes place through formal as a necessary evil but as a fundamen-
training and workshops, but also in ev- tal part of our organizing work to build
eryday conversations, practices, and the power in our communities. In 2020, we
loving and supportive ways of being that had 10 members hone in on the power of
we embody. transformational grassroots fundraising
over traditional transactional fundraising.
These members hosted their own grass-
NON-PROFIT FINANCE roots fundraising pages as part of Clean
air’s end-of-year $60K to Fight in Flight
TRAINING
fundraiser and collectively raised over
Lacking confidence in financial gover- $9,000.
nance is one of the top reasons that
people don’t want to join boards, but we
8ONE-ON-ONE TRAINING MUTUAL AID
+ ESTABLISHMENT OF From the start of the
THE WELCOME TEAM COVID-19 crisis, Clean Air
staff and members worked together with
At Clean Air, relationships are the foun- our partners at SURJ Buffalo to provide
dation for our work and our community. survival needs for our people through mu-
When we are in relationship with one an- tual aid. This looked like grocery and sup-
other, we can share, plan, dream, create ply runs, financial aid when/if we could,
and get things done. In 2020, Clean Air and friendship and community-building
established our Welcome Team: a group through the many technologies and cre-
of five Members and Supporters who ative abilities at our disposal. We held an
engage in radical hospitality to welcome orientation for 15 of our members on the
new people into the organization. The history of mutual aid in our movements,
Welcome Team participated in a one-to- political education on the race and class
one training to practice the skill of inten- root causes of our broken social safety net
tionally creating space for new people system, and how we can continue to care
to join us and feel a sense of belonging for one another in a loving and dignified
through the power of connection and re- way beyond the pandemic.
lationship building.
GROWING STRONGER
ZOOM TRAININGS TOGETHER: AN OPEN HOUSE
Staying connected to each other and our TO ROOT OUR POWER
work was one of our biggest challenges
and opportunities in 2020. Once we all In May of 2020, the Membership Team
began to quarantine, it became clear that hosted our very first virtual open house!
online meetings and social spaces were At the Open House, we unveiled our brand
going to be our new normal. Through one- new Membership Handbook and shared
to-one support conversations and online campaign work updates from all of our
tutorials, we were able to get dozens of our teams. The Membership Team held this
members connected on Zoom so that they event to re-activate our current members
could participate in our ongoing campaign and invite new people to join us! Our first
team meetings and organization-wide Open House was a success with close to
events like our first ever Open House. 100 people joining us on Zoom to learn
more about Clean Air and connect with
one another as we build the power we
need to win the world we all deserve.
9RAPID RESPONSE to answer our questions about the site’s
history and future which allowed all of us
TO EPA CUTS
to have a real say in the ongoing cleanup.
In March of 2020, the EPA drastically
suspended its enforcement regulations
for polluting industry across the country, ANTI RACISM WORK
citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Clean Air During the summer’s uprising for Black
members sprung into action to organize lives, a group of our white members began
folks regionally and across the country to to deepen their anti-racist work. The Anti
fight back against the cuts and demand Racism Crew met bi-weekly starting in July
that environmental justice communities be to explore our understanding of race, iden-
centered in the EPA’s response to the pan- tity, oppression, and what it means to do
demic. Through our organizing and lead- anti-racist work as white people. Clean Air
ership, over 50 environmental, community, has a racially diverse membership, yet we
and labor groups called on the New York recognize that the majority of our member-
State Attorney General Tish James to sue ship in the Northtowns are poor, working,
the EPA. In June of 2020, NYS led a co- and middle-class white people. These
alition of nine other states in suing the members are taking on the responsibility
Trump Administration for this suspension to do the work that Black, Indigenous, and
and their disregard for the health and dig- other people of color have been calling us
nity of communities across the country. to do for generations: organize our people
to do anti-racist work and end systemic
racism. In October, the Anti Racism Crew
EPA REPORT BACK MEETING partnered with Anthony Armstrong of
Core to our values at Clean Air is dem- Make Communities to hold an online an-
ocratic decision-making and resident ti-racism and structural racism workshop,
knowledge. When Tonawanda Coke shut digging into WNY’s history and creating
down in 2018, the EPA took control of por- space for people to explore their own sto-
tions of the site to ensure it was safe and ries around race, identity, and solidarity.
secure until formal cleanup could begin.
In the summer of 2020, after months of
organizing and pressure by the Tonawan-
PHONE BANKING WITH SURJ:
da Coke campaign team, representatives SWINGING GEORGIA LEFT
from the EPA shared a summary of their Through our 501(c)(4) sister organization,
work and findings on the site. Our mem- Community Power for Health and Justice
bers held the EPA and DEC’s feet to the fire (CPHJ), we partnered with Showing Up For
10Racial Justice (SURJ) on the Swing Georgia al and collective skilled action. We con-
Left Campaign. The campaign made over tinue to practice somatics in our everyday
a million calls to folks in Georgia to mobi- work because we respect and are commit-
lize them to vote. Dozens of our members ted to understanding and learning from
made calls, listened and shared stories, the lived trauma and experiences that are
and organized to ensure a better future. in our minds and in our bodies.
NYS HAZARDOUS WASTE
VOTE ON YOUR VALUES MANAGEMENT COURSE
In November 2020, we launched our In our work we are often told that we do
“Voting on Your Values” series outlining not know enough, that we are not ex-
how our members planned to center Clean perts, that we should let the real people
Air’s values as they cast their ballots. Our in charge take the lead. We know that is
members shared their connections to our not true. In 2020 our Environmental Justice
campaign work and values and reasons Organizer, Emily became certified in Haz-
why they were committed to casting a ardous Waste Management in New York
vote in the 2020 election that promoted State. She is now trained in New York-spe-
democracy and justice. cific rules for typical managers and su-
pervisors of hazardous waste compliance
activities at both large and small quantity
STAFF DEVELOPMENT generator sites in New York. So, the next
We believe in employing skilled and expe- time that someone at NYSDEC tells us that
rienced staff who know how to build per- we don’t know what we’re talking about,
manent, multi-issue, membership-based we have another tool in our toolbox to
teams. We provide our staff with the train- prove them wrong!
ing and support they need to reach their
full potential. In 2020, our staff team took
part in the following leadership develop-
ment opportunities:
GENERATIVE SOMATICS
Staff participated in multiple Generative
Somatics courses, learning and practicing
embodied transformations. We learned
the skills of cultivating resilience toward
creating change, connection, and person-
11CAMPAIGN
TEAMS
At Clean Air, we organize because we refuse to be silenced, dispirited, or hopeless.
To transform isolation, we put forward community visions for what our neighborhoods,
workplaces, and government should be. In an unimaginable year where we experi-
enced the stark realities of a global pandemic and visible state violence against Black
lives, we responded by coming together and organizing for justice. When everything in
the world seems uncertain, you can be sure that our hard work will continue.
In 2020, we came together to care for one another through hard times and build a
more beautiful and clear vision for the world that we all deserve. We are proud of the
work that we have collectively accomplished. Our members and communities find the
strength every day to stand up for their lives and for the lives of people they do not
know. Together, we build out a practice of care, of beloved community, and of fierce
commitment to shared liberation.
Note: For full campaign history, please visit cacwny.org/campaigns.
TOWANDA COKE
The Team What leads us to one another?
Maria Tisby, Sue Kelley, What leads us to one another is our pas-
Gary Schulenberg, James sion to right the wrongs of over 100 years
Jones, Joel Bernosky, Kristen of the toxic history of Tonawanda Coke.
Cascio, Mr. Red, Emily Together, we are building power for the
Terrana next 100 years of people in our communi-
ty. We all believe in the necessity of trans-
parency by industry and state agencies,
having a real decision making role in our
12neighborhoods, and the power of grass- of its kind Community Advisory Group
roots organizing. (CAG) on cleanup at the Tonawanda Coke
site, creating a real seat at the table for
community members and stakeholders
What sustains us? in how this toxic site will be cleaned up!
In 2020, we learned to Zoom together! However, when our team was granted a
We had many meetings online with one CAG and American Axle was not, we stood
another to strategize, learn, share, and together with our American Axle team
take action for health and justice with partners and demanded equal treatment
the larger community. We found time to and an end to the state’s ongoing envi-
celebrate our big wins as well as the day- ronmental racism.
to-day work that we have done together What brings us back to one another
during this unprecedented year. We found and supports us is our love for each other
ways to laugh with one another, check-in and our vision for a better future that cen-
on each other, and really take the time to ters our dignity, health, and justice.
deepen our relationships with each other.
2020 was a big year for organizing for
our team. Together, with our technical What are we taking on next?
team, we submitted a full environmental Our team is excited to work across Clean
site assessment and thorough technical Air’s campaign teams to get to the root
comment to the New York State Depart- of problems at toxic legacy sites and fix
ment of Environmental Conservation the system that exists to clean them up.
(NYSDEC) on the ongoing Superfund and We will center our voices and the voices
Brownfield cleanup work being done at of people across the state living in envi-
Tonawanda Coke. We organized with our ronmental justice areas as we organize for
fellow members in the Delavan-Grider better remediation programs that for too
community for Community Advisory Groups long have been underfunded and made to
at both Tonawanda Coke and American benefit developers and not the community.
Axle so that we can have a real seat at Our team is
the table during the remediation work on also committed
the sites. Our teams won two unanimous- to continuing our
ly passed resolutions in support of our ongoing work to
calls for democractic decision making and address and end
transparency by the Erie County Legisla- white supremacy
ture, which paved the way for future wins! and how it shows
Together, we organized and won the first up in ourselves,
13our institutions, and society at large. We environmental restoration, we really only
will continue our anti-racist organizing get one chance in our lifetime to get it
work and bring more of our family mem- right. Doing it the cheapest and fastest
bers, friends, and neighbors onto the side way is not only disrespectful but unjust
of history that is about justice and equity. to ourselves and our future” —Jim Jones,
Tonawanda Coke Team Member
DEC, town setting up Tonawanda Coke
Earned Media public working group
Tonawanda Coke site sampling plan:
foundational, or cheap and fast?: “In
HUNTLEY
The Team life, new family-sustaining green jobs, and
Diana Strablow, James Jones, Sue Kelley, the hope of a better future for all of our
Maria Tisby, Gary Schulenberg, Emily people. We imagine a world where we all
Terrana have what we need and where we dare to
create new possibilities.
What leads us to one another?
For our team, our vision for a fair and What sustains us?
just transition that lies in the In the summer of 2020, our team took
shell of the former Huntley the time to read Adrienne Maree Brown’s
power plant in Tonawa- book, “Emergent Strategy: Shaping
nda is what leads us to Change, Changing Worlds.” Through our
one another. We see collective study, we realized that our work
beyond the chain-link is so much more than what we’re fighting
fence and red tape and against, but what we’re building for the
envision a community and future and how we are practicing those
environmental asset to our imagined futures now. We began to shift
futures. We see the our thinking and pivot toward what is
possibility for new life-giving, what sustains us, and what
14has the possibility to be shaped in ser- the world-class Niagara River in our back-
vice of more joy, liberation, and healing yard where the power plant worked for
for ourselves and our more than human our community for 100 years. The land de-
allies in this world. We have decided to be serves our best work to heal and continue
more like a flock of starlings or a network giving and so do our people.
of mycelium (intricate mushroom roots); What sets us apart is our unabashed
to adapt with intention, to be intercon- belief that every day people have a right
nected, to root in our resilience, to work to make decisions about our future and
toward new possibilities, and to see shape what comes next.
ourselves and our work as a responsibility
to something bigger than ourselves while
focusing on the small that we can hold Earned Media
and shape. Local officials frustrated at NRG’s process
to sell ‘eyesore’ Huntley site: “I think it’s
been clear that NRG doesn’t care about
What are we taking on next? the will of the people in Tonawanda and
In 2021, we are committed to organizing Riverside. They are a business. They have
for the future of this Tonawanda site and a bottom line.” Emily Terrana, Clean Air
for all of us who value joy over corporate Organizer
greed and inaction. We are blessed with
AMERICAN AXLE
The Team What leads us to
Ms. Shirley Stitt, Ms. Della Miller , Ms. Mary one another?
Blue, Ms. Shelda Cunningham, Ms. Sydney On our team, we be-
Brown, Alex Dombrowski, Chris Murawski, lieve in making this
Rebecca Newberry community whole.
Making a communi-
ty whole means full
remediation of the
former Amer-
15ican Axle site and cleaning up all con- not be placated by an advisory group in
tamination that may have spread into the Tonawanda at the expense of our lives
property of families living near the site. and dignity in Delavan-Grider. In 2021, we
Making a community whole means the will continue to organize our communi-
ability to garden, the ability for children to ties and we will carry on until we have a
play in the dirt in their backyards, and the clean and healthy neighborhood where
ability to be confident that where we live everyone feels safe, seen, and heard. We
doesn’t make us sick. Making our commu- are currently building a framework for a
nity whole isn’t a luxury or an unreason- community advisory group for the Amer-
able demand; it is what we deserve. What ican Axle site and we plan to reach out,
brings us together is a common thread of educate, and actively engage more resi-
commitment to health and wellness in all dents to the critical state of the area and
communities. We understand that commu- how they can join us as we organize for
nities deserve to live healthy lives. We also change. In our outreach endeavors, our
have built a respectful, trusting, and fair team will stress health issues, possible
relationship among ourselves. We work contaminated soil for gardening, and oth-
together as a team on each and every er issues in the neighborhood.
campaign tactic, strategy, and action. This community deserves to live in a
safe and protected neighborhood. We
keep fighting for our health, dignity, jus-
What sustains us? tice, and wholeness because we know
Our members stay connected to ensure that we are on the freedom side.
all of our work happens in alignment. Our
team felt it was so important to meet and
to keep the momentum going that we Earned Media
found creative places to meet like each Another Voice: Environmental justice must
other’s back yards or in parks (of course, be done in Delavan-Grider: “If New York
using all protective measures). We are State says that ‘Black Lives Matter,’ they
dedicated to win justice for our communi- must stand for the health and dignity of
ties no matter what the COVID pandemic all Black lives. Clean Air’s membership in
throws our way. the Northtowns and city stand together
with one voice in asking the DEC: Whose
lives really matter?” Sydney Brown, Amer-
What are we taking on next? ican Axle Team Member and Jim Jones,
We will not accept the state’s disregard Tonawanda Coke team member
for Black health and dignity, and we will Community Advisory Boards to help
16guide cleanup of American Axle, Tonawa- will help to keep things transparent, will
nda Coke: “Far too long, these sites have help keep the community informed and
been negligent as far as making sure they the community has a say to make sure
do have proper cleanup or just function- that it’s done in a thorough and equitable
ing in a healthy and safe way, not only for way.” Sydney Brown, American Axle Team
employees but for the community,” Brown Member
said, “and a Community Advisory Group
TESLA
The Team speak up for ourselves and other people,
Becca, Christina, Jeremy, Marcus, Tim, letting others know they’re not alone. We
Linnea are driven to fight for real change.
What leads us to one another? What sustains us?
We were led to each other first by shared We are brought back together by our
workplace and shared experience of ha- shared hurt and pain, but also by the care,
rassment, discrimination, and abuse. Our support, and understanding that we have
team is made up of folks who’ve worked for each other. In 2020, we pivoted to
at Tesla, and many of us are former co- Zoom, where we meet regularly and spent
workers. We have all been harmed by our real time checking in with each other: we
experiences at Tesla, by the didn’t just focus on what was next on the
racism, sexism, and culture agenda and business, but we made our
of white supremacy and meetings holistic by seeing if everyone
abuse. But we are more was doing okay mentally and physically
than that: we are led and how we were holding up through this
to each other by the daunting task of fighting for justice. We
same traits that put continue to find ways to make this work
targets on our backs in feel cozy and joyful, even when it’s painful.
the workplace and by
our commitment to
17What are we taking on next? You could say we’re like pinky and the We will continue to lift up our stories brain: we’re going to take on the WORLD. and connect with other workers to push forward our case, bringing more Tesla workers into the fight, both in Buffalo and Earned Media across the globe. We will keep connecting When it comes to race, Tesla looks like a and building relationships with community throwback company: Some of our team leaders and elected officials to invite them members shared their stories with Rod into our work. Watson at The Buffalo News this summer, We will force Tesla to acknowledge the resulting in this opinion piece. harm they have caused and take respon- Shareholders ask for Tesla factory work sibility for it, and demand justice and environment changes in Buffalo: Our sto- accountability for all workers. We’re still ries inspired shareholder activist groups amassing the stories and experiences of to center our concerns in proposals they people like us, building power with our made for changing company policies. fellow workers, current and former, and We also attended the virtual shareholder continuing to blow the whistles. We are meeting to share our demands ourselves, connected by Tesla, but we know Tesla is and our comment was read live on air! just a starting point in demanding justice and equity in the new energy economy and demanding systems of accountability and transparency for public investments. 18
SENECA BABCOCK
& DIANE’S LAND
The Team rigor, sacrifices, and love, and we are
Diane Lemanski, Jarrett Steffan, Christine fighting to win the transfer of the derelict
Slocum, Linnea Brett, Rebecca Newberry and abandoned properties to create a
carbon sink where plantings will clean the
soil and surrounding air, capture carbon,
What leads us to one another? and create a green buffer to offset the
This community has been united, for too impacts of local industry and the 190
many years, around suffering. The im- interstate. In creating this, we are making
pacts of Battaglia Demolition’s illegal a powerful investment in our community’s
cement-crushing operation in our neigh- future.
borhood kept us sealed inside, avoiding
the trucks, debris, and cement dust. De-
spite this isolation, we banded together to What are we taking on next?
fight back. Since its closing, we’ve found We will continue to fight for the land
new allies and a broader community, transfer and for a comprehensive cleanup
welcomed into this work by a vision for a of the former Battaglia Demolition site.
cleaner, healthier, and quieter future: a Through community control and carbon
community-owned land trust. sequestration, we will model a grassroots
way to fight climate change: by creating
healthy, resilient communities
What sustains us? of people and ecology.
This year, through a ranked-choice voting
process by Peabody Street residents, we
unanimously decided to call our land trust
Diane’s Land, named for our tenacious
and brilliant leader and caretaker, Diane
Lemanski. We worked to create this land
trust and to celebrate Diane’s leadership,
19MEMBERSHIP
The Team late or do justice to the work that we were
Robert Walsh, Sue Kelley, Gary actually doing. Yes, we agree . . . money
Schulenberg, Jenn Carman, Maria Tisby, funds our work, but we believe that it can
Julia White be so much more than that. Money can
actually be a part of how we organize for
a better world. At Clean Air, we are in the
What leads us to one another? business of building a movement for jus-
The Membership Team shares a passion tice that cannot be defunded, broken, or
for shared liberation for ourselves and stopped. And the core of that movement is
for so many others. We are driven by the our Members.
power of organized membership because We are so proud of the work that we
we know that when we build bridges accomplished in 2020. We created Clean
between each other and put forth peo- Air’s first-ever Membership Handbook,
ple-based solutions, we are unstoppa- hosted Growing Strong Together: An
ble. In a world where the strength of our Open House to Root our Power, created
people and our commitment to our shared Membership resources on our website,
liberation is everything, we refuse to be had hundreds of conversations with our
divided. We create powerful community to friends, family, and comrades, and helped
organize for health and justice, but also to lead Clean Air’s $60K to Fight in Flight
care for one another, center joy, laugh a end-of-year fundraising campaign, which
lot, and celebrate often. raised over $82,000! We are truly building
a movement that is stronger, more cre-
ative, and more resilient than our enemies
What sustains us? could have ever imagined.
Three years ago, we
established our Mem-
bership Team. Well,
we started as the
Fundraising Team,
but quickly decided
that “fundraising” re-
ally didn’t encapsu-
20What are we taking on next?
We’re only getting started. In 2020, we
witnessed the fruits of our labor in re-
al-time: the power and love of a mem-
bership community that has each other’s
backs in hard times and in joyful times.
This year, we’re going to keep building
connections and deepening relationships
with our neighbors and partners. We
will bolster the work of the Tesla, Diane’s
Land/Seneca Babcock, Tonawanda Coke,
Huntley, and American Axle Teams by
creating intentional and welcoming space
for people in our community and beyond
to join us as we reimagine and will into
existence a just, joyful, and caring world
that works for all of us.
212020 In addition to 449 Individual Members and Donors, Clean Air’s work
in Fiscal Year 2020 was generously supported by the following
foundations and organizations:
FINANCIALS The Just Transition Fund
11th Hour Project
The Baird Foundation
Church of the Nativity
John R. Oishei Foundation
Jessie Smith Noyes
Foundation
The Western New York
United Church of Christ Foundation
Where our money came from & Communication Workers of Rowboat Family Foundation
America Pisces Foundation, Mosaic
Where we spent our money The County of Erie Amalgamated Foundation
INCOME EXPENSE
2020 ORGANIZATIONAL ACTUAL INCOME & EXPENSES
Includes Fiscal Sponsored Project: Black Love Resists in the Rust (BLRR)
Gov’t Grants $30,000 Lobbying $1,340.43
Admin $51,899.48
Fundraising $10,392.41 BLRR $130,178.09
Foundations $270,500
BLRR $39,5896.67
Leadership Dev
$117,459.26
Envoronmental Justice
$98,748.03
Donations $ 109,818.49 Just Transition $62,418.75
Memberships $26,405.15
2020 CLEAN AIR ONLY ACTUAL INCOME & EXPENSES
Gov’t Grants $30,000 Lobbying $1,340.43
Memberships $26,405.15 Admin $51,899.48
Envoronmental Justice
$98,748.03
Fundraising $10,392.41
Donations $109,818.49
Leadership Dev
$62,418.75 Just Transition
Foundations $270,500.00 $117,459.26
*these statements have not yet been audited”
222020 BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
Jennifer Carman, Chair Tom Roulley
Sydney Brown, Treasurer George Boger
Nick Reed, Secretary Drew Canfield
2020 STAFF
Rebecca Newberry, Robert Walsh, Climate
Executive Director Justice Policy Organizer
Julia White, Grassroots Emily Terrana, Leadership
Development Organizer Development Director
and Environmental Justice
Linnea Brett, Community
Organizer
Organizer
Alexandra Dombrowski,
Intern
23North Tonawanda
Grand Island
City of
Tonawanda
1
Town of
2 Tonawanda
Kenmore
3
Buffalo
4
5
0 1 2 Miles
PLANNING REALIGNED
24CLEAN AIR
MEMBERSHIP
Members
Membership Areas
Campaign Locations
1 Tonawanda Coke 4 Diane’s Land & Seneca Babcock
Held Tonawanda Coke accountable Organized with residents to stop
for decades of disregard to community Battaglia Demolition, a concrete crush-
health and the environment. After the ing facility without proper permits, from
company shut down in 2018, we began or- polluting the Seneca Babcock neighbor-
ganizing for the cleanup of the plant paid hood. After the company was forced to
for by the company. close, members continue to organize for
adequate recourse to reimagine a healthy
2 Huntley
and vibrant environment and community.
After the retirement of the NRG Huntley
coal plant, we helped lead the creation 5 Tesla
of an economic development plan for the We need a renewable energy econo-
town to recoup lost tax revenue, and we my that provides generational sustaining
continue to organize for the cleanup of careers that are just and equitable. That’s
the plant and its reimaging as a communi- why we’re organizing with former Tesla
ty resource. workers to hold the corporation account-
able for a workplace culture of sexual
3 American Axle
harassment and racism.
The Eastside American Axle site is
ground zero for contamination, with haz-
ardous oil, grease and PCB toxins that
have leached into the sewer system. In
2015, we joined forces with residents to
organize to stop the toxic runoff and re-
mediate legacy waste.
25OUR MISSION
The Clean Air Coalition builds power by develop-
ing grassroots leaders who organize their communi-
ties to run and win environmental justice and pub-
lic health campaigns in Western New York.
OUR VISION
A world where our environment promotes health
and equity and where systems place communi-
ties at the forefront of decision making.
OUR VALUES
• Leadership Development
• Environmental Justice
• Democratic Decision-making
• Resident Knowledge
• Race & Class Equity & Inclusion
• Appreciation, Recognition and Celebration
52 Linwood Ave. Buffalo, NY 14209
716-852-3813
info@cacwny.org
@CleanAirWNY
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