Working-class women bear the burden of climate change | Opinion - NJ.com

Working-class women bear the burden of climate change | Opinion - nj.com

By Isabella Tyszka

Climate change is the most pressing issue facing our planet today. The waters off the coast of New Jersey and along the entire Northeast are warming exponentially higher than anywhere else in the world. Its impacts are being felt acutely and they are not necessarily gender-neutral.

In New Jersey, many women work in industries vulnerable to climate change, such as agriculture and fisheries. Food and agriculture are New Jersey’s third most profitable industries, bringing in billions of dollars each year.

The Garden State boasts over 720,000 acres of viable farmland, and of 9,000 farms staffed by New Jersey’s 15,936 farmers, roughly 22% are women. These industries are being affected by the changing climate in various ways, from crop failures and droughts to the loss of overall biodiversity.

The Cape May/Wildwood fishery is the largest in New Jersey and is one of the largest on the East Coast. The commercial fishing industry produces over $133 million in revenue on top of the agricultural market in New Jersey.

Gov. Murphy’s most recent climate action includes several measures to achieve 100% clean energy by 2035 – but is it enough?

The Murphy administration put in place six main measures, the first being Executive Order No. 315. This piece of legislation pulls the 100% clean energy target down from 2050 to 2035, an ambitious move that signals Murphy might be putting his money where his mouth is to tackle the collective and ever-increasing issue of eco-anxiety.

The second piece, Executive Order No. 316, sets the target to install electric heating and cooling systems in 400,000 homes and 20,000 commercial properties by 2030, effectively making 10% of all low-to-moderate income properties ready for electrification. Following this is Executive Order No. 317, which directs the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to plan for the Future of Gas utilities in the state.

Furthermore, under Murphy’s direction, $70 million will be allocated to a Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The auction’s proceeds go toward lowering upfront costs for electric vehicles, something that has been on the minds of many since the announcement of the expansion of the Charge Up New Jersey initiative last year.

Murphy also used this opportunity to lay the groundwork for adopting Advanced Clean Cars II, a policy requiring all new cars and light-duty truck sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035.

Finally, from the last of the recent climate action measures comes the proposition of implementing NJ PACT REAL, outlining enhanced protection measures against flood for homeowners, businesses, and infrastructure.

Given the gendered impacts of climate change, feminist perspectives must be introduced to the climate policy debate in the Garden State. This means recognizing how women are affected by climate change and taking steps to address these impacts in real-time.

It is essential to highlight that there is already an established gendered wage gap in the United States, and women statistically face higher levels of poverty than men: 20.91 million women lived under the poverty line in 2021. New Jersey ranks third nationally for the number of women in poverty with 11.9% compared to 10.6% of men who work in New Jersey.

The looming threat of climate change only places women in poverty in a more dire position, as the lack of access to resources or tools that may aid them in preparation against extreme weather or flooding, including food supplies, clean water, or transportation, is significantly higher.

Furthermore, the expectations and pressures placed upon women to act as caregivers in daily life grow with the threat of climate-induced emergencies, as women are expected to provide for family or community members, further incapacitating them from participating in a more climate-resilient work field.

New Jersey must involve women in decision-making processes and create more opportunities to voice their concerns. There must be a recognition of women’s wide range of experiences across industries, cultures and households.

Another critical step in creating a more feminist approach to climate policy is investing in programs and mutual aid networks that teach women and communities how to live sustainably or prepare more keenly for climate-caused disasters.

Mutual aid has the potential to encourage community members to renounce the existing conditions of the world and work together to build upon strengths and resources inherent to the community to build a better, cleaner future.

Most importantly, however, the total elimination of the carbon-based system we depend on is the only way to ensure that working-class women - and the world - don’t get swept away in the immense literal, political, social, and metaphorical tidal waves of the climate crisis.

Isabella Tyszka is a student in the Feminist Advocacy for Women’s Rights class at Rutgers-New Brunswick.

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