The Fall of Bloomberg's Energy Plan: The Beginning of a "Green-Revolution" In Our Cities?

Coming from New York City, this article caught my attention. I am curious to see the efforts of our Mayor in this new “green” movement. Unfortunately, Mayor Bloomberg dropped a proposed plan to cut building energy use. The objective of the plan was for all buildings of 50,000 square feet or larger to undergo renovations that would make them more “energy efficient”. The Mayor dropped this mandatory proposal, and it is now up to the building owners whether they wish to participate or not.

This plan would have put New York far ahead of other cities in the regards of energy use and consumption i.e. the “green-buildings movement”. If this plan were put in action, some 22,000 buildings already in existence would have been affected, thus greatly changing the energy flow of NYC. There seems to be some legislation in the works that will slowly shape NYC into a more ecological friendly and resource efficient city. It would be great if this plan would be put into affect because 80% of the city’s total carbon emissions come from buildings, but the Mayor plans to reduce the city’s total emissions by 30% by the year 2030.

I am glad to see NYC in the forefront of this movement. I hope that the legislation gets passed in favor of a greener NYC, and that we can lead and set examples for other cities across the U.S. There is plenty of room for change and this is a small, but important, step and I am glad to see that our state and city are taking this seriously and realizing that change is needed, and that our ways are outdated. We can no longer live with the comfort of cheap and abundant energy we have been spoiled with for so many years.

Changes like replacing windows, upgrading boilers and generators, and cutting energy use through business practices and improved machinery and upgraded hardware, can greatly change the total energy output and input of the city if these practices become widespread. The best way to enforce these practices would be through legislation and education and by showing the benefits for not only the environment, but for the companies themselves. As we learned in this class, many times, people only act when something directly affects them. So one way to encourage this movement is to show businesses that they can save money and better their environment with even the smallest changes, and that these types of changes can spread and create a revolution in the way we use energy around the country, and even the globe.

Reference:

New York Times Article: Bloomberg Drops Measure to Cut New York’s Greenhouse Gases
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/science/earth/05bloomberg.html?_r=1&ref=earth