Bloomberg To Create NYC 'Office of Sustainability'
by Eric Kane, New York, NY 
on 06.22.06
As of June 15, NYC’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, was one of 248 mayors from 41 states to have signed the ‘U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement'. Under the agreement, mayors “strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities”. According to WNYC, Bloomberg is taking another important step toward this commitment: The public radio station reported yesterday that the billionaire mayor will create a New York City ‘Office of Sustainability’. As one would imagine, this office will be charged with identifying strategies to reduce the City’s greenhouse gas emissions. Coincidentally, this report was issued the same day that the Department of Energy predicted that worldwide carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels would increase 75 percent above current levels by 2030. See also ::Buildings Account for Half of All CO2 Emissions, ::Electric Taxis Coming to NYC?
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If this effort ends up like Mr. Bloomberg's Commission on Economic Opportunity (his blue ribbon anti-poverty panel) we will never hear from this office again.
It sounds like a good idea, but I hope it will be charged with more than just reducing the City’s greenhouse gas emissions. There are other aspects to sustainable cities and sustainable living, after all.
He could start with reviewing the city's Bike Master Plan and giving it a timetable for completion. And the city's recycling program is rather half-hearted...