NYC passes sweeping climate bill likened to 'Green New Deal'

New York City approved a sweeping climate legislation package Thursday that is being compared to the Green New Deal. In a 45-2 vote, the city legislature passed the Climate Mobilization Act, which aims to enact the largest carbon reduction measures of any city globally. At the heart of the package is a bill that would require New York’s largest residential and commercial buildings to reduce carbon emissions 40 percent by 2040 and 80 percent by 2050. In comparison, the Green New Deal resolution introduced in Congress aims to get the U.S. electric grid running on 100 percent green energy by 2030. The NYC bill’s requirements focus on buildings over 25,000 square feet, which represent just 2 percent of New York’s real estate yet account for about half of emissions from all buildings in the city. Overall, 70 percent of emissions in the city come from buildings. Buildings that would be bound to the new emissions regulations include One World Trade Center and Trump Tower...MORE