For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Contact: Jordan Levine, jlevine@nylcv.org, 917-392-8965
NYLCV President Marcia Bystryn issued the following statement in response to Mayor de Blasio’s 2017 OneNYC Progress Report:
Two years into Mayor de Blasio’s OneNYC plan, we are pleased to see significant progress on its aspirational goals toward the city we want to become.
This progress report shows the administration is serious about implementation of its initiatives and that it is using metrics and milestones to make sure we stay on track. In fact, of the 579 milestones that were set for the end of 2016, over 89% were either competed or partially completed and over 85% of the City’s indicators are either stable or improving.
Highlights include:
- -Annual greenhouse gas emissions were down 14% from 2005 levels at the end of 2015.
- -Citywide solar capacity has more than quadrupled since 2013 to more than 100 megawatts of installed capacity.
- -Electric vehicle fleet expansion is ahead of schedule and over 1,000 EVs will be in use by July.
- -More than 1 million New Yorkers are now served by organics collection.
- -The City is in the process of redrawing our flood maps to better account for current and future flood risk, saving New Yorkers millions of dollars and better preparing our coastal communities for the future.
- -And the City’s new Green Jobs Corps is showing how to capitalize on the job creation benefits of climate action by training more New Yorkers to join the green economy.
OneNYC is demonstrating that cities can take tough challenges like growth, equity, climate change and resiliency into their own hands. With a federal government that is at odds with much of these endeavors, it is even more important that leading cities like New York stay focused and committed to local progress on economic and environmental sustainability.
We believe the most ambitious goals in the plan, an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050 and sending zero waste to landfills by 2030, remain within reach. Grasping on to them, however, will require steadfast leadership, continued smart planning, and utilization of the latest technologies and innovations. We look forward to working together with Mayor de Blasio and his team to build on successes and expand these initiatives in the years to come.
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The New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) is the only non-partisan, statewide environmental organization in New York that takes a pragmatic approach to fighting for clean water, healthy air, renewable energy, and open space. Follow NYLCV on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.