NYC Mayor Adams reveals plan to take on climate change. Here are 3 takeaways. - SILive.com

NYC Mayor Adams reveals plan to take on climate change. Here are 3 takeaways. - silive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — New York City has a new sustainability agenda.

Mayor Eric Adams and his administration late last month unveiled PlaNYC, an ambitious 92-page report outlining a range of initiatives designed to encounter the threat posed by extreme weather, adjust the city’s energy portfolio and bolster its green energy workforce.

“New York City has already taken major steps to become more sustainable, resilient, and equitable, including breaking ground on the Lower East Side Resiliency Project, passing Local Law 97 to reduce building emissions, and rapidly electrifying our city’s fleet, which is already the greenest in the nation,” said Adams. “But we are just getting started.”

The mayor’s plan, with a moniker of “Getting Sustainability Done,” aims to protect against two major forms of extreme weather worsened by climate change — flooding and extreme heat — while removing pollutants from the air and meeting the need for burgeoning clean energy industries.

Here are three takeaways from the plan:
Illustration from the city's PlaNYC report. (Mayor's Office)

PLANNING FOR FUTURE IS A NECESSITY

Climate change has disrupted the way governments plan for the future.

A step taken today requires a thought of how climate change will affect decisions in the coming years and decades.

To take climate into account, the city Office of Management and Budget’s newly established Environmental Sustainability & Resiliency Task Force will help guide the city’s hand, in conjunction with the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, as it considers sustainability investments.

“While the costs of preparing for and responding to climate change are significant, the cost of inaction is far greater,” reads the PlaNYC report. “Climate change poses risks to our health, safety, housing, environment, and economy, and has a disproportionate impact on communities that are already vulnerable.”

In practice, it means the city will post regular updates in an annual publication highlighting its ongoing investments and its path toward reaching ambitious climate goals. To meet those thresholds, the plan aims to maximize funding from state and federal sources to bolster its investments.

“Without climate budgeting, we risk investing in projects that are incompatible with our long-term goals, locking in technology that may harm communities for decades, missing opportunities to save money by addressing multiple threats at once, or stranding assets that are paid for but must be abandoned in the near future for better alternatives,” said the report.
Illustration showing tree canopy cover in 2017 in NYC. (Mayor's Office)

A PLAN TO INCREASE TREE CANOPY COVER

PlaNYC commits to a goal established by Forest for All NYC, which calls for increasing the city’s tree canopy for 30% of its area — an effort that would cool surrounding areas and filter out pollutants in the air.

Meeting that mark would mean 15,300 additional acres of tree canopy across New York City. A report released last year found the five boroughs could sustain tree canopy across 40% of its area, making the 30% goal highly attainable. A 2017 analysis found about 22% of the city has tree canopy cover.

Adams said the goal would be supported by increased enforcement of street tree planting requirements, with a goal of complete compliance by 2035.

Not mentioned in the report is the Parks Department funding required to meet the task of directly managing more than 800,000 street and landscaped park trees. Despite former promises to bring the agency in line with parks departments in other major cities, Adams has not yet allocated 1% of the city’s budget to the operations of the city Parks Department.

“Trees play a critical role in reducing outdoor temperatures by providing shade on hot days and purifying the air we breathe,” reads the plan. “Urban trees can cool city streets up to 2°F, shading buildings and reducing energy consumption.”
Map showing NYC offshore wind partner organizations. (Mayor's Office)

A FOCUS ON THE GREEN ECONOMY

New York State has placed historic investments into clean energy, and Staten Island has rapidly positioned itself to be a pivotal piece in the offshore wind energy industry.

“Yet, we have more to accomplish to reach our clean energy goals,” wrote the mayor’s plan. “Our current energy supply relies on fossil fuels and aging infrastructure and results in some of the highest energy costs in the nation.”

To match the significant momentum in the energy transition, the city will need a robust workforce of locally-trained talent. The College of Staten Island is among the locations becoming a source of workforce development and education in clean energy sectors.

PlaNYC seeks to further deepen the city’s commitment to fueling these growing fields by integrating climate education in public school classrooms across all subject and grade levels.

A city Department of Education (DOE)-led program will form a leadership group of 50 teachers that will provide up to 1,000 educators with professional development related to climate change. Additionally, the agency is expected to establish a school certification program for climate education.

By 2024, the DOE will launch Career-Connected Learning Programs — an initiative centered on preparing public school students for careers in the green economy.

Supporting a new work pipeline, PlaNYC forecasts the number of New Yorkers working in the green economy could grow from around 140,000 people in 2021 to 230,000 people in just six years.

Many of those jobs will be gained through green energy sectors, including the manufacturing of massive offshore wind turbines, as the public and private sector pivots to meet the demand of the state’s lofty energy goals.

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