New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says in order to become the “Green Apple,” and wholeheartedly embrace the “Green New Deal,” the city that never sleeps is going to have to make some major changes. Some of these might not be so easy to fully espouse.
According to Mayor De Blasio, who recently appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” New York’s iconic skyscrapers are currently the city’s “biggest source of emissions.” This is a problem because in order for New York to buy in fully to the “Green New Deal,” they have to make drastic changes when it comes to emissions and renewable energy. Consequently, the mayor stated, “We are putting clear, strong mandates” in place. If a property is already built, the owner will face gigantic fines until their buildings are retrofitted to meet current energy standards.
“[This is] the first of any major city on the Earth to say to building owners, ‘you’ve got to clean your act, you’ve got to retrofit, you’ve got to save energy. If you don’t do it 2030, there will be serious fines, as high as $1 million or more for the biggest buildings,” de Blasio said.
Mayor De Blasio also added that New York is planning to alter the way skyscrapers are currently engineered and constructed, moving away from steel and glass.
“We’re going to ban the classic glass and steel skyscrapers, which are incredibly inefficient,” he said. “If someone wants to build one of those, they can take a whole lot of steps to make it energy efficient, but we’re not going to allow what we used to see in the past.”
According to the mayor, owners of private builds will be expected to reduce their emissions some 30% by 2030.
The “Green New Deal”, which was introduced by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is a radical proposal to essentially retrofit the entire United States into a green utopia. It requires a massive and almost complete overhaul of the way the nation currently utilizes energy. The idea is to cut emissions and revamp the economy by shifting America away from fossil fuels entirely, like coal and oil. These resources would then be replaced with renewable options like solar and wind power. The Green New Deal demands a comprehensive elimination of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Although the changes sound responsible and beneficial to the environment, many warn they could spell disaster for the American economy. With some estimations putting the price tag of these changes at $93 trillion or $600,000 per US household, it’s easy to see how this deal would be horrendous if enacted nationwide. According to many republicans who have rallied against the proposal, it would trigger massive tax hikes and subsequently devastate the economy.
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Despite the warnings against embracing the New Green Deal, de Blasio is not only embracing it wholeheartedly, he is even going a bit further with the idea and creating his own $14 billion plan called “OneNYC 2050: Building a Strong and Fair City.”
This comprehensive plan is described by de Blasio as a way to “prepare our city for the future.”
“Every day we wait is a day our planet gets closer to the point of no-return,” he said. “New York City’s Green New Deal meets that reality head on. We are confronting the same interests that created the climate crisis and deepened inequality. There’s no time to waste. We’re taking action now, before it’s too late.”
According to de Blasio, New York will be committed to carbon neutrality by the year 2050 and will have to utilize only 100% clean electricity.
Often, while something might sound good in theory, it doesn’t work in practice. Many experts agree that this new plan will only serve to undermine the current economic growth enjoyed by the nation, and will likely devastate many American businesses and families, especially those who happen to call New York City home.
Regards,
Ethan Warrick
Editor
Wealth Authority
