Last week, New York’s mayor unveiled a big new energy plan. Unfortunately, it represents a squandered a chance to be bold on climate change
New York prides itself on being a green city. It is often ranked as the most sustainable city in the US: as a result of its density and its admirable (if financially challenged) public transit system, New Yorkers have extremely low carbon emissions per capita. Adding to its green laurels, the city council’s recent Climate Mobilization Act requires pollution-cutting retrofits on big dirty buildings – which are responsible for nearly 70% of the city’s carbon emissions.
But NYC could be doing a lot more to go green – and fight extreme economic inequality at the same time. Room for progress is most evident in the energy sector. NYC’s electric grid is polluting and inefficient, relying heavily on fossil fuels and ageing infrastructure. With the state’s oldest and dirtiest power plants concentrated in New York City’s low-income communities and communities of color, it is no surprise that each year more New Yorkers are killed by pollution from electricity generation than in any other major city in America. The system is also economically unjust: with some of the highest electricity rates in the nation, New York City saw more than two million shut-off notices in 2018 alone, and almost half a million families pay more than they can afford in energy costs.
Continue reading...from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2JwIbb8
