Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is going to be in a New York state of mind.
Granholm, the former governor of Michigan, will be in the Big Apple next week to meet with environmental groups and tour sustainability projects across the five boroughs.
The trip will focus on President Biden’s infrastructure plan and its investments to build a clean energy economy that could “create millions of good-paying jobs and delivers environmental justice to disadvantaged communities,” according to the department.
On Tuesday morning, Granholm will attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Brooklyn where the moped- and ebike-sharing company Revel will unveil a new electric vehicle charging “superhub.”
The supercharged charging station on Flushing Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant will be the largest universal fast-charging depot in the country, according to the company. It will include 30 chargers for owners of any electric vehicle brand and will be open to the public 24-hours a day.
Granholm will then join members of UPROSE, a grassroots environmental and sustainability group led by women of color, for a walking tour of the Brooklyn waterfront.
“We’re really excited to meet her and to show her the work we’ve been doing to re-envision what an industrial waterfront can look like,” said Elizabeth Yeampierre, the group’s executive director.
UPROSE has worked for years to bring renewable energy, including solar and offshore wind power projects, to Brooklyn and also focuses on bringing blue-collar manufacturing and environmentally conscious jobs to the city.
“We know that climate change is here, and what it does is present us with an opportunity to start looking at spaces that have historically polluted and harmed communities as sort of this economic vehicle of transformation,” Yeampierre said.
Groups like UPROSE are optimistic about the federal government’s commitments following Biden’s “Justice40 Initiative,” a goal that would see 40% of his administration’s climate and clean energy investments directed to disadvantaged communities.
Granholm will also meet with members of WE ACT for Environmental Justice and participate in a roundtable discussion with advocates including Climate Jobs New York.
The secretary’s city visit comes on the heels of trips to West Virginia and Houston, where she touted Biden’s American Jobs Plan and efforts to transform coal and power plant communities through clean energy investments.
An Energy Department spokesperson said the secretary is looking forward to “listening to workers and environmental justice leaders throughout the city.”
