Faced with a climatic threat that becomes more serious every day in the face of the actions and omissions of governments and private actors worldwide, but with palpable effects in the communities of Puerto Rico, the organization The bridge He has delineated an ambitious educational work agenda and law that goes to the core of the country’s main challenges.
The education of children in the context of extreme conditions, the struggle for the approval of the document that guides government policy to adapt to Climate change and deal with the “expansion” of fossil fuels lead the Priorities list of El Puente. But now, in addition to addressing those issues of national relevance, the organization will expand its community footprint in Río Piedrasafter becoming owners of the premises that has been their home for the past three years.
“The vision we have is to transform the building into a climate refuge where, in case of any emergency, we can use it so that people stay, organize community meetings and be sustainable; In other words, that has renewable energy, water capture and prepare food, but also store supplies, ”he said Federico Moscosodirector of El Puerto Rico, from the three -story headquarters – including a basement – on Robles Street in the Riopedrense urban area.
The acquisition of the ownership of the property was possible by a subsidy of the foundation of the philanthontrap Mackenzie Scottbut Moscoso Cintrón pointed out that the bridge will still require hundreds of additional thousands of dollars for the structural and logistics adaptations of the premises necessary for the concept of community “oasis”.
“We have been connected by years with Río Piedras, with relations that we have not only with the University (of Puerto Rico), but with social justice organizations. Río Piedras is possibly instead of Puerto Rico with more social justice organizations per square kilometer, ”said the activist, highlighting the work they currently do together with Dominican Women and other entities in favor of the immigrant community, within the framework of the federal offensive against this population.
Loaded agenda
This intersection between vulnerabilized populations and the climate issue, precisely, is at the center of one of the primary objectives of El Puente, an organization that had its origins in 1982, in the Williamsburg community, in Brooklyn. In 2024, the bridge tried, without success, that the courts forced the Department of Education to deliver data on the school days lost by students due to events associated with climate change, such as Extreme heat or atmospheric phenomena.
“We understand that they have to have that information. There is no way that they have), because if a director closes a school, he has to inform the department, he cannot close it and not pay a report. There has to be a document, but the department has refused to make it public, ”said Cintrón Moscos Students meet a minimum of 180 school days a year.
According to Cintrón Moscoso, the United Nations Organization He has recognized that They are “tens of millions” children who lose classes for reasons linked to global warming. The lack of access to educational centers, also, has an effect on other services – such as therapies – that can receive special education students. In the case of Puerto Rico, in addition, schools represent 86% of shelters against natural phenomena, Moscoso said.
“They are layers of problems that are created, especially when many of those schools have been left in abandonment, and now bring new problems,” said the researcher.
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We must put efforts and resources in the transition to renewable energy, and that is a government decision “Federico Moscoso
To a large extent, the climate perspective of El Puente coincides with the guidelines outlined in the Mitigation, adaptation and resilience to climate change (PMARCC), which last or the present Legislative Assembly have begun to evaluate, despite the fact that, by law, the Government must pass trial before June 30.
Moscoso Cintrón said that, although the senator Marissa JiménezPresident of the joint commission with jurisdiction over the PMARCC, has been favorably expressed around the priority of the document, none of the legislative bodies has appointed the rest of the members of the agency.
“If the commitment is to direct Puerto Rico to climate adaptation, there must be a plan. And that plan does have to be in conversation with the rest of the legal scaffolding, and in conversation with all the agencies they have to execute. But it is that government work is to do that possible and neatly. It cannot be an excuse that is a lot of work, because that was what they said last year, ”he accentuated.
At the same time, Moscoso Cintrón signed up for the stagnation of the energy transition and the policy outlined by the governor Jenniffer González to bet on fossil fuels –And specifically at methane natural gas– To achieve short -term stability, instead of advancing the established public policy, which orders change to Clean sources.
“There is no way to adapt to climate change if we do not eliminate fossil fuels. That is the formula, that’s what there is and that knows everyone. It is not new information. We must put the efforts and resources in the transition to renewable energy, and that is a government decision, ”said Cintrón Moscoso, remembering that the bridge maintains a litigation against the Federal Agency for Emergency Management In search of the reconstruction assignments for the network to be redirected to the development of a model based on the decentralization of electricity generation.