Cities Won’t Slow Down on Climate Action
By First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris
On November 8, and in the days that followed, people around the world came to the sudden realization that enormous change was imminent in American environmental and social policy. Of the many aspects of our future that hung in the balance on Election Day, among the most important was how we will deal with climate change.
Today, many of us across the country are wondering how our Federal government will protect our homes and communities from ever increasing temperatures and more frequent and intense storms. We worry that our national commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement will deteriorate. We question the future of clean energy under the Trump administration. We fear that America’s moral leadership on this profound global challenge will be degraded.
Whatever changes occur — and the rhetoric of the campaign certainly implies that a dramatic change in direction is likely — New York City will continue to work aggressively to protect our residents and our planet. Like so many other major cities around the world, we realize that only a collective effort led by cities can make a meaningful impact locally and globally — no matter what happens at the Federal level.
That’s why, on behalf of Mayor Bill de Blasio, I’ll be traveling to the Mayors Summit in Mexico City, hosted by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. Mayors and their deputies from the world’s great cities will gather there to share the innovative ways in which cities are working to build more ethically responsible economies that stem the tides of climate change in the long-term, while adapting our communities to the realities that a changing climate is causing today.
In New York City, we’ve concluded that environmental sustainability and economic sustainability must walk hand in hand, and that growing economic inequality in our city — mirrored throughout our nation and across the globe — threatens the strength and humanity of our communities. That’s why we are working every day to achieve more just environmental outcomes and dignity for all New Yorkers.
Since taking office, the de Blasio Administration has put inclusive climate action at the forefront of our agenda. We are leading by example — investing billions to retrofit public buildings for greater energy efficiency and expanding our electric vehicle fleet, which is on track to be the largest municipal electric vehicle fleet of any U.S. city. We are helping private building owners reduce their water and energy use. We are reimagining our coastal neighborhoods with better access to the waterfront while ensuring their coasts are protected from sea level rise. We have nearly quadrupled solar and continue to expand organics recycling across the city. In other words, we are doing our part to preserve our only home for generations to come. It’s what drove Mayor de Blasio to create our comprehensive OneNYC plan, a program that is already delivering a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable city.
The C40 gathering is an opportunity to share our city’s insights and learn from others. Doing so collectively can help countless people around the globe and allow leading cities everywhere to scale up real, meaningful climate action. New York City, partnering with cities and Mayors around the world, will continue to lead this important effort.
President Obama had it right. “We recognize our role in creating this problem; we embrace our responsibility to combat it. We will do our part, but we can only succeed in combating climate change if we are joined in this effort by every nation. Nobody gets a pass.” If our nation will not step up, our cities will. Our planet — our only home — depends on it.
