'Can't Deny Science'
Mayor Warms To Curbing Emissions

By RICHARD STEIER

In an attempt to increase the focus on the growing threat posed by global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, Mayor Bloomberg will host a Large Cities Climate Summit next month whose guests will include Mayors from around the world.

DANIEL DOCTOROFF: Buildings big offenders.

He announced the sitdown at an April 10 press conference sparked by the first comprehensive inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in the city. It found that while the average New Yorker produces just 29 percent of the levels that are created by the average American, carbon dioxide emissions in the city rose by 8.5 percent between 1995 and 2005.

Wants 30% Reduction

This is of particular concern because of the city's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, which leaves it especially at risk from the effects of global climate change. Mr. Bloomberg said he intended to make changes that would allow the city to cut greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2030.

"We can no longer deny the science and bury our heads in the sand," the Mayor told reporters during an all-day conference held in the new 7 World Trade Center. "Climate change is a real issue with real consequences."

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: Climate concerns.

President Bush has frequently been criticized for not making more of an effort to deal with global warming, but Mr. Bloomberg said Congress, which until earlier this year was controlled by Republicans, shared the blame.

"I don't think the Federal Government is taking any of this stuff as seriously as they should," he said. "One of the problems is there is an economic cost to this."

A report on greenhouse gas emissions was compiled as part of the effort by the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability to chart the city's course over the next quarter-century to ensure that it remains strong and competitive.

Mr. Bloomberg said that 58.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, or greenhouse gas emissions, were produced in the city in 2005.

Of those, Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff noted, 79 percent were generated by energy consumption in buildings throughout the city, more than twice the national average. Eighteen percent were caused by on-road vehicles, Mr. Doctoroff said.

Last year, city government itself accounted for the emission of 3.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, with 64 percent generated from buildings' operation, 17 percent from water and sewer operations, and nine percent from city-owned vehicles.

Case for More Hybrids

The rise in emissions, the Mayor said, "certainly argues for more-efficient, less-polluting vehicles." He said his administration has been responsible for increasing the use of hybrid vehicles which are partly operated by electricity in the areas of buses and sanitation trucks, as well as city cars. Ideally, he said, the city would like to be able to use hybrids in firefighting, but it has no choice but to use conventional gas-powered trucks until hybrid ones are available.

The findings also strengthen the case for using mass transit, Mr. Bloomberg remarked.

Noting his own daily use of the subway in commuting between his upper East Side home and City Hall, the Mayor continued, "Somebody said to me, 'Do you like it?' It's a way to get to work. If I do nothing else than to serve as a role model for others, the more people who take transit, the better off we'll be."

A majority of city employees do not follow his lead, however: the report found that 53 percent of them commute by car. "Much too much," Mr. Bloomberg said, adding that it was understandable, given that many of them live in adjoining suburbs where the mass transit system is not as well-developed, or in parts of the city where the transit system does not allow for a quick commute to their workplaces.

"Sadly, this city stopped expanding mass transit back around World War II," the Mayor said, noting that this will change with the building of the Second Ave. subway and the extension of the 7 line to reach Penn Station.