Report: Results Are Mixed For Mayor’s PlaNYC Program
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A year has passed since the launch of the city’s long-term sustainability program, PlaNYC 2030, and Mayor Bloomberg is likely to focus on its goals when he takes the podium during Earth Day celebrations today.
A report by the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund released yesterday gave mixed reviews on the city’s progress on the 127 initiatives that make up PlaNYC.
Earlier this month, Mr. Bloomberg suffered a major defeat as one of PlaNYC’s most contentious components, the adoption of a congestion pricing plan, died in the state Legislature despite a major effort by the mayor to rally support behind the plan. While the high-profile failure attracted attention, the report cited success over the past year in a number of the program’s other environmental goals, such as setting carbon emissions standards.
Earlier this year, the City Council passed legislation requiring a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by city government by 2017 and 30% citywide by 2030, the first such municipal law in the country. Other achievements hailed by the report include the launch of an initiative to plant 1 million trees by 2017, legislation requiring the city to formulate a plan to reduce sewage overflow, and an $80 million commitment to energy efficiency programs for city government.
The Nylcvef criticized Mr. Bloomberg for not supporting broader recycling measures and for not proposing enough transportation improvements not dependent on congestion pricing revenue for their implementation. The report also faulted the mayor for not codifying more of PlaNYC’s goals into law in order to hold future administrations accountable for continuing the environmental policy.
Council Member James Gennaro of Queens, chairman of the Environmental Protection Committee, said yesterday that one of his chief concerns for the future is attaching a legal mandate to PlaNYC’s goals.
“There’s about 20 months left, and we have to move these bills forward,” Mr. Gennaro said. “My experience has been that the mayor’s vision is very bold, and his staff has been cautious regarding getting the concepts in PlaNYC crystallized into legislation.”
