Bloomberg Braces Big Apple for Mounting Costs of Climate Change

NEW YORK (June 11, 2013) – Mayor Michael Bloomberg today unveiled an ambitious vision for protecting New York against growing risks associated with climate change.

A statement follows from Peter Lehner, Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“This is an expansive blueprint for fortifying New York against the irrepressible threat of rising sea level. We look forward to studying the details of this comprehensive system of levees, floodgates, seawalls and other protective measures, including his promising proposals on the Bluebelt and dune expansion.

“This much, though is clear. Climate change is bearing down on the Big Apple big time. It's costing us big money, and those costs will only rise. As the Mayor said, ‘This is the defining challenge of our future.’ It's time to take action, as a nation, to reduce the carbon pollution that is driving climate chaos and threatening us all.

“The single most important step we can take is to cut the carbon pollution from our power plants, which account for 40 percent of our national carbon footprint. President Obama has the authority, and the responsibility, to do that, and the time to act is now.”

For more information, see Lehner's blog on this subject here.