FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, October 23, 2025
Contact: info@publicpowerny.org
New Book on Movement Behind Mamdani & Public Power
The first-ever book length inside look at the New York movement behind Public Renewables, Zohran Mamdani, and New York’s Future
Organize or Burn by Fabian Holt
New York, New York – Transformative victories are rare in the climate movement. When the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA) passed in 2023 it was hailed as the first statewide Green New Deal law and has already led the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to commit to building 7GW of public renewables.
The legislation was won thanks to four years of grassroots organizing by a multiracial, multi-generational movement of climate and advocacy organizations, elected officials like Zohran Mamdani and Jamaal Bowman, labor unions representing millions of New Yorkers tens of thousands of New Yorkers who took action from upstate, downstate, and and everywhere in between.
Organize or Burn by Professor Fabian Holt follows the “fascinating” and “riveting” story of how organizers within the New York City EcoSocialist Working Group took an idea to reclaim NYPA, which was being used as “Andrew’s Cuomo Piggy Bank” at the time, and transform it to meet the state’s legally mandated climate goals and provide cheap, renewable energy to New Yorkers. Holt shows how organizers built one of the most successful climate movements in recent years and passed groundbreaking legislation alongside public power champions like Assembly Members Sarahana Shrestha and Zohran Mamadni.
“As the book says, New Yorkers are transforming the state’s energy system through the Build Public Renewables Act. Because of us, NYPA has already committed to building 7GW of public renewables in New York State. Every additional gigawatt NYPA builds means lower energy bills, more union jobs and the ability to shut down racist, polluting peaker plants,” said the Public Power NY Coalition. “Governor Kathy Hochul must now finish the job, reject Trump’s energy plan that only benefits Big Tech and the fossil fuel industry, and commit to building at least 15GW of public renewables.”
Following massive public outcry, NYPA updated its strategic plan to implement BPRA this summer, doubling the amount of projects it plans to build from a paltry 3.3 GW to 7GW. At least 15GW of public renewables by 2030 is necessary for New York to meet the legally mandated goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).
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Note to the editor:
About Public Power NY
Public Power NY is a movement fighting to ensure New York effectively carries out the Build Public Renewables Act by building 15 Gigawatts of public renewables by 2030. Hailed as the first statewide Green New Deal law, BPRA was written by PPNY and passed in 2023 thanks to four years of organizing by a multiracial, multi-generational movement of climate and advocacy organizations, labor unions representing millions of New Yorkers and tens of thousands of New Yorkers who have taken action from upstate, downstate, and everywhere in between. With federal climate action off the table, BPRA has enabled NY to not just play defense against Trump, but lead the way the way FDR created NYPA to do.