Albany Won't Solve New York City's Climate Change Problems

Nancy Anderson, Executive Director of the Sallan Foundation, finds that New York City can solve the urban climate crisis at home, instead of putting its climate future in the hands of Albany politicians. In the Sallan Foundation's latest Torchlight report, Anderson takes a close look at Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC 2030 and finds that greening New York City real estate is the best way to slash carbon emissions by 30% or more. The Sallan report shows why making high performance building the Big Apple's new normal is the best way to combat climate change.

Since 79% of the City's carbon "footprint" is linked to heating, cooling and generating electricity for its buildings, the Sallan Foundation calls on the City to shrink that footprint now. It's a tall order for a vertical city, but New York's got everything it needs to succeed.

The Torchlight report advances a smart, winnable strategy. It has the answer to the doubters who say why give top billing to green buildings for meeting greenhouse gas reduction goals? Like Willy Sutton once said, "ya rob banks, because that's where the money is." Today, PlaNYC 2030 should make high performance building the City's new normal because that's where the climate change payoff is. And since today, Albany isn't ready to adopt bold climate actions, the City's on its own.

Scientists say that there is no time to waste in shrinking the carbon footprints of every city in the world. In this spirit, the Sallan Foundation calls for making green building the top climate priority for 2030 and it spells out a winning a strategy. New York City should rely on homegrown rules while attracting economic, creative and technical tools from around the world to make it happen.

Link to the full report from the Sallan Foundation. http://www.sallan.org/newviews/archives/2007/06/000664.php

About the Sallan Foundation: The Sallan Foundation improves the urban environment by advancing useful knowledge for greener, high performance cities.