Treeage
Founded in 2019 by high
school and college students
frustrated with inaction,
TREEage empowers young
people to lead climate
justice fights locally.
Because this is our
New York, our future,
and our fight. We fight for clean air, clean water, union jobs, and green schools because we all deserve a livable future.
TREEage’s membership is 100% high school and college students. Our members mobilize their classmates and communities, participate in historic and innovative advocacy initiatives, and take on responsibilities within TREEage.
Green, Healthy Schools
Every day, nearly 1 million young New Yorkers and over 100,000 teachers and staff attend and work in public school buildings that are unequipped for today’s challenges. Just this year, over 300 school buildings were impacted in a flash flood and schools were forced to close due to poor air quality. Currently, schools rely on dirty fossil fuels for power and heating and public schools are among the worst climate polluters and largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the city. Schools next to polluting infrastructure lack proper ventilation, exposing students and staff to health risks.
After decades of disinvestment, our 100-year-old infrastructure desperately needs an upgrade. Students, teachers, staff, and our entire community deserve green, healthy, safe, and comfortable schools to learn and grow up in—regardless of zip code.
The Climate Works for All coalition’s Green, Healthy Schools campaign calls on Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Council to:
Electrify and upgrade 500 public school buildings by 2030, prioritizing schools in environmental justice communities.
Make NYC a zero emissions school district by 2040.
In 2022, the Adams administration announced the Leading the Charge initiative which committed $4B to upgrade schools. $1.7B within the initiative is allocated to date but Mayor Adams must allocate a lot more. Of the $4B, $2.3B is yet to be allocated.
The City estimates that it costs $27M to electrify and upgrade one school. This includes heat pump installation, HVAC and air quality improvements. Therefore, electrifying and upgrading 500 schools will cost $13.5B, requiring an average investment of $2.7B annually until 2030.
Our proposed FY25-29 Capital budget demands will prioritize the spending of already committed funding, pull funding from several existing sources of city, state, and federal revenue, to fully fund the retrofit of 500 schools by 2030. In addition, we will support City Council legislation that advances our goal for Green Healthy Schools across NYC. See our policy memo for more details.
