Greening the big apple

Greening the Big Apple

On September 27, 2012, the New York League of Conservation Voters («NYLCV») published «Blueprint for a Greener New York City». The policy agenda sets forth NYLCV’s vision for the further «greening» of New York and makes dozens of detailed recommendations that will help guide city leaders through the end of the current mayoral administration. The Blueprint covers a wide range of sustainability issues, from water quality and climate change to transportation and solid waste.

Non-partisan and greatly respected on both sides of the aisle in Albany, NYLCV is the only statewide environmental organization in New York that fights for clean water, clean air, renewable energy and open space through political action. The publications of NYLCV and its sister organization, the 501(c)(3) New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, provide an excellent source for background on the environmental issues that confront all of us as citizens of New York.. One such publication is «Protecting Your Community: A Citizen’s Guide to Reporting Environmental Offenses», which stresses the importance of citizen participation in reporting environmental crimes. This publication sets forth in detail how an environmental crime is defined, how it is identified and how it should be reported.

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Greening the Big Apple: deals with giant power links to turn New York renewable

State finalises contracts with transmission projects that will deliver clean output from as far afield as Quebec

New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration has finalised contracts with developers of two transmission projects that will deliver huge amounts of renewable energy from upstate locations and Quebec to New York City.

The contracts between the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Champlain Hudson Power Express and Clear Path New York require approval by the Public Service Commission (PSC) which regulates utilities in the state. A public comment period will extend to 7 February 2022.

Clean energy and environmental groups applauded the announcement as another solid step forward in implementing the state’s ambitious clean energy standard.

“It is especially great news when a new transmission project also supports the construction of new wind and solar projects in Upstate New York. It’s an investment in jobs now and a stronger grid into the future,» said Anne Reynolds, executive director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, a prominent advocacy group based in the capital Albany.

Champlain Hudson Power Express consists of a 339-mile (545km) underground high voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission line from the Canadian border that will deliver 1.25GW of electricity generated by Hydro-Quebec facilities along a route through Lake Champlain, the Hudson and Harlem Rivers, then terrestrially to a converter station in Astoria, Queens, for distribution in the city.

Transmission Developers Inc (TDI), a portfolio company of Blackstone Group, a leading US investment management firm, is the project’s majority owner.

The $3.5bn, 1.3GW Clear Path New York project comprises a 175-mile underground HVDC transmission line from Delaware County in the state’s Southern Tier through the mid-Hudson region to New York City.

It will enable new projects consisting of 3.8GW nameplate capacity (2GW wind and 1.8GW solar) that will require $7.5bn in upstate investments.

Partnering on the project are the New York Power Authority, the largest public power organization in the US, and Forward Power, a joint venture between Invenergy and energyRe, both independent energy developers.

The projects will deliver about 18,000GWh of renewables annually.

If approved, NYSERDA payments will only commence once each project has obtained all required permits and approvals, completed construction, and is delivering power. For the already fully permitted Champlain Hudson Power Express, this is expected to begin in 2025, and for Clear Path New York in 2027.

«This announcement not only accelerates our pace to achieving the goal for having 70% of New York State’s energy to come from renewable resources, we’re also creating sustainable jobs, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, and paving the way for cleaner air and a healthier future for all New Yorkers,” said Hochul, referring to its 2030 target.

Her administration claims the projects will create 10,000 high-quality jobs, $8.2bn in economic development across the state, and help reduce New York City’s fossil fuel use for electricity by more than 80% in 2030 when combined with deployment of other clean energy investments including offshore wind.

President Joe Biden’s administration has identified insufficient long-haul heavy-duty transmission as among the biggest challenges the US faces to meeting its global climate pledges and his 2035 target for a carbon-free electric grid.

The new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act law earmarks $27bn for grid infrastructure, reliability, and resilience, and grants greater authority to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve siting of a transmission project if deemed in the national interest.

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Greening the Big Apple: New York plants millionth tree ahead of schedule

Trees line a street in Greenwich Village in New York. Photograph: Ian Dagnall/Alamy

Trees line a street in Greenwich Village in New York. Photograph: Ian Dagnall/Alamy

City links: The MillionTreesNYC campaign has hit its target two years early, cash machines that dispense stories and the youngest cities in England and Wales feature in this week’s best city stories

Last modified on Mon 3 Feb 2020 12.53 GMT

The best city stories we’ve spotted around the web this week celebrate the tree-planting efforts of New York City, discover how Grenoble is bringing short stories to its streets and reveal which cities in England and Wales have the youngest populations. We’d love to hear your responses to these stories: just share your thoughts in the comments below.

A million trees

As we’ve discussed before, urban trees have a number of environmental, social, health – and even economic – benefits. So it’s positive to hear, from Fast Co Exist, that the goal of New York’s MillionTreesNYC campaign, to plant a million new trees in a decade, has been achieved two years ahead of schedule.

As Adele Peters writes: “While the city planted the majority of the trees (750,000) in parks and along streets, the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) filled in the gaps on other public land – places like housing projects, libraries, airports, churches and synagogues, and hospitals. They also gave away trees to anyone with a yard who wanted one.”

Impressive stuff – though as usual looks like London is trying to go one (million) better than New York, with mayoral hopeful Sadiq Khan promising to plant 2m trees should he be elected.

Young cities

With the help of data from Centre for Cities, City Metric reveals which towns and cities in England and Wales are home to the most, and the least, people aged under 20. At the bottom of the table, with the lowest percentage of young people, are Bournemouth and Blackpool. Those places with the biggest proportion of the under-20s are Bradford and Blackburn (alliteration unplanned).

The density question

A common complaint from city dwellers is that there are too many people in their city and simply no capacity for more residents; but is there such a thing as a city that has “run out of room”? The Washington Post doesn’t think so, and takes an in-depth look at urban density around the world. “For the most part,” writes Emily Badger, “we can always make choices to make more room, to build taller and denser, to upgrade schools and rethink roads to let more people in. That we don’t isn’t a limitation of physics. It’s a matter of politics disguised as physics.”

The city of Grenoble is nestled in the Alps. Photograph: David Martyn Hughes

Street stories

Grenoble – the French city recently in the headlines for banning commercial street advertising – has now done something else surprising on its streets. As CityLab explains, the city has eight new cash machines dotted around town – but instead of dispensing money, the machines give out short stories. The idea is that the machines bring interesting literature into those kerbside moments spent waiting for a friend or a bus, thus making reading more accessible for those on the move.

Car-free Suwon

In 2013, the 4,300 residents of a neighbourhood called Haenggung-dong in the South Korean city of Suwon gave up cars for a month, in celebration of the EcoMobility World Festival. “It was impressive to see how the residents embraced the change and adapted their routines and commutes to car-free circumstances,” writes Anna Valmero in CityLab. “I also came away from the event inspired to learn how to bike.” But what about the long-term local impact of the temporary initiative? Valmaro returns to the city to take a look: “Cars have made a noticeable return, although residents say there are fewer of them and drivers go slower . Shutting the streets entirely to cars seems unlikely anytime soon. But residents have begun requesting incremental changes that nudge Haenggung-dong in that direction.”

Follow Guardian Cities on Twitter and Facebook to join the discussion

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New York
Greening the Big Apple

The mayor’s long-term plans for saving the environment

THE city is in pretty good shape. Unemployment is at a record low. It is safer now than it was when Kennedy was president. Tourism is thriving. The bond rating is high. After the September 11th 2001 attack, many expected the worst for New York. But the mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has turned deficits into surpluses. He has also managed to make New Yorkers live healthier lives, banning smoking and trans-fats. Now, he has set his sights on the city’s long-term sustainability.

The population is expected to grow by almost 1m to 9m by 2030—and the infrastructure is already crumbling. If something is not done to make the Big Apple greener, said Mr Bloomberg on April 22nd, New York will be on a “collision course with the environment”. He proceeded to unveil a 25-year vision that he hopes will be a model for other cities.

The mayor is proposing 127 new initiatives dealing with land, air, water, energy and transport. His proposals include introducing molluscs into the city’s waterways as natural bio-filters, adding bicycle lanes and hastening the cleaning and rezoning of 7,600 acres (3,100 hectares) of contaminated land. He hopes to add 1m trees. New parks should mean that every New Yorker lives no more than 10 minutes away from one. School playgrounds will be open to the public.

Some of his provisions are even more ambitious. He plans to cut the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30% in part by improving the efficiency of power plants. To pay for this, a $2.50 monthly surcharge will go on electricity bills. He argues that by spending $30 a year until 2015, every household will save $240 a year after that. This bid for energy conservation would be the broadest attack on climate change ever undertaken by an American city.

The most controversial proposal and the most politically courageous is congestion pricing. A one-time sceptic, Mr Bloomberg has been won over by the success of pricing in London and Singapore and now intends to set up a three-year pilot programme. The $8 fee to enter Manhattan below 86th Street will, he hopes, encourage more people to use public transport, thus improving the air, general health (in some areas one in four children suffer from asthma) and the quality of life. Taxis are exempt. By his reckoning, only 5% of New Yorkers commute to Manhattan by car. Those drivers will pay about half the fees, suburban commuters and commercial vehicles the rest.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s verdant governor, and Britain’s prime minister, Tony Blair, both sent messages of support to the mayor. But Mr Bloomberg still has to win over his own state. He hopes, for instance, that the state legislature will agree to create a body with authority to raise money for improving transport. The city will commit $200m a year to such an authority and he wants Albany to match it, plus help from the federal government. Congestion pricing is expected to raise $380m in its first year alone.

Mr Bloomberg’s vision is ambitious. But he needs to overcome Albany’s doubts, and to win over public opinion in New York. He must do it fast: he will be in office for fewer than 1,000 more days.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline «Greening the Big Apple»

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Greening the Big Apple, April 28th

by The Economist | WASHINGTON

Mayor Bloomberg’s plan for New York City 2030 offers laudable goals for the environment, housing, infrastructure and transit. However, those behind Plan NYC may wish to consider developing a coordinated municipal telecommunications/information/Internet policy to help achieve those goals.

For example, encouraging the construction of a publicly-accessible gigabit-level fiber network throughout the five boroughs could speed Plan NYC’s energy-saving objectives towards implementation. Such a high-speed network (now being deployed in competitive municipalities internationally) would make it possible to deliver goods and services via the Internet instead of by truck. It would accelerate opportunities for online education, e-commerce and tele-medicine and boost productivity as people could skip car trips by connecting via high-definition video links.

Promoting emerging technologies as part of Plan NYC could help New Yorkers to save time, money and energy in the coming years, while simultaneously creating a myriad of new economic, social and cultural opportunities for the city.

Lloyd P. Trufelman

It is encouraging that Mayor Bloomberg is proposing road pricing for New York, as demand management may be the best way to reduce traffic congestion. However, it is sad that he plans to repeat two mistakes made by his London counterpart.

First, congestion depends on total vehicle distance, not total vehicles. The charge should be per-mile, for driving IN the charging zone not for driving INTO it. Inexpensive technology to implement this, without the privacy concerns of vehicle tracking, is now feasible.

Second, every vehicle contributes to congestion, so none should be exempt. Taxis, which are numerous and driven a lot, should certainly pay. It is hard to see why a car in Manhattan should avoid the charge just because it is painted yellow.

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