ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Several Allentown activists joined a voting rights organization on Voter Registration Day to highlight environmental justice and the two major presidential candidates’ “different visions.”
New Pennsylvania Project led a short news conference with Allentown's Soldiers and Sailors Monument as its backdrop Tuesday, seven weeks from Election Day.
Dave Heayn-Menendez, the organization’s chief strategy and organizing officer, called for Lehigh Valley voters to prioritize the environment this fall.
“The stakes are higher than ever."Dave Heayn-Menendez, the organization’s chief strategy and organizing officer
“We stand at a crucial crossroads, one where the decisions we make and the leaders we elect will determine the future of our communities, our families and our planet,” Heayn-Menendez said.
"The stakes are higher than ever” this election.
"We have a choice: Elect leaders who will prioritize environmental justice, clean energy and policies to protect our health, or continue down the path of inaction where corporate interests prevail.”
New Pennsylvania Project is working to register more than 2 million residents across the state who are eligible but not on official voter rolls, he said.
'Environmental justice on the ballot'
City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach and others noted Allentown’s recent ranking as the worst city in the United States for asthma sufferers.
“And we all remember last summer when we had to breathe in that nasty smoke from the wildfires,” Gerlach said.
She called climate change “the greatest existential crisis” the world faces.
“I think it’s pretty clear that environmental justice is on the ballot in November,” she said.
Gerlach credited President Joe Biden and vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for making “some progress” in the fight against climate change.
“This election is about … two different visions: one in which we're all pitted against each other and hate and fear; and another where we acknowledge the failures of our systems and we fight to change them."Allentown City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach
Gerlach cited the Biden-Harris administration’s implementation of national standards on forever chemicals and prosecution of corporations for dumping toxic waste and pollution.
That progress “would be wiped away” if U.S. voters restore Republican former President Donald Trump to power in November, Gerlach said.
“This election is about … two different visions," she said. "One in which we're all pitted against each other and hate and fear, and another where we acknowledge the failures of our systems and we fight to change them.
“Let’s not go back. Let’s go forward,” she said, putting a spin on Harris’ “We are not going back” campaign mantra.
