New York City Council | The “Greenest”
in City History

By Gina Nappi

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not the only “green” political figure in NYC these days.  Recently, an environmental group known as the New York League of Conservation Voters issued its 2010-2011 environmental scorecard for the New York City Council.  The City Council scored surprisingly well, scoring 90 out of a possible 100 points.  The scorecard analyzes voting and sponsorship records on 11 bills covering green buildings, transportation, sustainable food, waterfronts, clean energy and more. This is great news for the city considering that the council only scored 68 on the last year’s scorecard!

New Yorkers will be happy to hear about recent “green” legislation introduced by the city council.  Though none of these proposed legislation has been enacted yet, they show increased commitment to sustainability issues.

• The council introduced a law to amend the New York City Charter, which would require the New York City Panel on Climate Change to meet regularly, for the purpose of creating a report on climate change adaptation in New York City.

This legislation puts forward that the panel meet at least once every two years in order to develop climate change projections for New York City, as well as tools to assist the city’s climate change adaptation task force, and other city departments and offices in implementing procedures, actions, and programs to address current and future impacts on NYC infrastructure and on vulnerable citizens.

• The council also proposed an amendment to the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the creation of a comprehensive program to respond to air quality alert days.

This legislation proposes launching an air quality alert response program which will operate between March 15 and September 15 each year.  This program will allow citizens to sign up for air quality alerts to be communicated by telephone or email, provide recommendations for employers to promote teleworking for susceptible persons, and will provide outreach to city residents and employers to increase awareness of the air quality alert response system.

Please visit http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/Legislation.aspx to read more about recent legislation introduced by the New York City Council.

About the Author: Gina Nappi serves as a Grant Management Specialist at EPA Region 2. She is a Returned Peace Corps Paraguay Volunteer (2007-2009), in which she worked with her community on developing a municipal trash collection system.  Gina also has a Masters in Public Policy and Administration from Rutgers University.

Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.