New York unveils carbon cutting strategy

Big Apple commits 10 per cent of energy budget to slashing emissions by 30 per cent by 2017

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg last week pledged to spend 10 per cent of the city's energy budget each year for the next decade to slash the city's carbon emissions.

The investment – which aims to deliver a 30 per cent reduction in emissions by 2017 – will cost $80m in 2008 and is expected to eliminate 34,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a memo issued by deputy mayor Edward Skyler.

The short-term action plan encompasses 132 projects throughout the city, including lighting replacement, sensor installation, air conditioning improvements and vehicle replacements.

Around half of the 2008 funds will be spent on projects to replace interior lighting with more efficient alternatives and install supplementary systems, such as automatic motion sensors designed to turn off lights when offices are empty, to ensure interior lights are used more efficiently.

New York's project is "far ahead of the game", according to Annie Strickland, spokesperson at the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, a membership association of local governments that advises on local sustainable development.

However, she added that the New York initiative was indicative of smaller-scale energy efficiency programmes currently being undertaken by city governments across the US. "There are cities across the country that are [under]taking ambitious plans that have been in place for decades, for far longer than the federal government has been tackling or considering this issue, " she said.

In 2005, Seattle mayor Greg Nickels introduced the US Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, which committed mayors to meeting or beating Kyoto Protocol requirements at a local level. To date, over 500 US mayors have signed up to the agreement.