The Environmental Debate, Third Edition

232 The Environmental Debate

and best use of discarded products and

materials, and a closed-loop sustainable produc-

tion and consumption society.

Source: Oakland City Council Resolution 79774,

http://www.zerowasteoakland.com/zero waste/zero waste goal by

2020 resolution.

FURTHER RESOLVED, Oakland will assume
a leadership role, partnering with other Zero
Waste local, regional and international com-
munities and sustainability advocates to actively
pursue and advocate for strategies and incen-
tives to advance Zero Waste principles for mate-
rials management, system re-design, highest

DOCUMENT 162: New York City’s PlaNYC 2030 (2007)

New York City, along with several other large, medium-size, and small U.S. cities—including Los Angeles,

Chicago, San Francisco, and Oakland—has taken numerous steps in recent years to make itself both more

livable and more environmentally sustainable.

On Earth Day 2007, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg released a comprehensive twenty-five-year plan

for the city’s future. The plan offered a strategy for reducing the city’s greenhouse gas footprint while also

accommodating population growth and improving the city’s infrastructure and environment. One of its

aims was to reduce citywide carbon emissions by 2030 to 30% below 2005 levels. An annual Greenhouse Gas

Emissions (GHG) Inventory was designed to track progress toward the plan’s carbon reduction goal. By 2017

the city was about two-thirds of the way toward its GHG emissions reduction goal, helped along by a Carbon

Challenge for commercial buildings put in place by Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2014.

Within ten years of the inauguration of PlaNYC, the city had initiated major changes in traffic patterns,

providing for more and safer space for bicycles and pedestrians, and enabling people to “take back” large

sections of asphalt in places with a lot of foot traffic; a new subway line was operating; and, nearly a century

after it had been discontinued, there was once again regular ferry service from Brooklyn and Queens to

Manhattan. While some segments of the plan were implemented quickly, others, such as a proposal for traffic

congestion pricing in midtown Manhattan, almost immediately ran into opposition.

Focusing on the five key dimensions of the
city’s environment—land, air, water, energy, and
transportation—we have developed a plan that
can become a model for cities in the 21st century.
The combined impact of this plan will not only
help ensure a higher quality of life for genera-
tions of New Yorkers to come; it will also con-
tribute to a 30% reduction in global warming
emissions.

Land
Housing: Create homes for almost a million
more New Yorkers, while making housing
more affordable and sustainable

Open Space: Ensure that all New Yorkers

live within a 10-minute walk of a park

Brownfields: Clean up all contaminated land

in New York

Water

Water Quality: Open 90% of our waterways

for recreation by reducing water pollution

and preserving our natural areas

Water Network: Develop critical back-up

systems for our aging water network to

ensure long-term reliability

Transportation

Congestion: Improve travel times by add-

ing transit capacity for millions more resi-

dents