PEP, June 2007: Planting the seeds for a greener world. Bloomberg targets urban ecology.

1) Create homes for almost a million more New Yorkers, while making housing more affordable and sustainable.
2) Improve travel times by adding transit capacity for millions more residents, visitors, and workers.
3) Ensure that all New Yorkers live within a 10-minute walk of a park.
4) Develop critical backup systems for our aging water supply network to ensure long-term reliability.
5) Develop for the first time in history a full “state of good repair” on city roads, subways, and rails.
6) Provide cleaner, more reliable power by upgrading our energy infrastructure.
7) Reduce global warming emissions, such as carbon dioxide, by more than 30 percent.
8) Achieve the cleanest air of any big city in the United States.
9) Clean up all contaminated land in New York City.
10) Open up 90 percent of our waterways for recreation by reducing pollution and preserving our natural areas.

While the need to fight global warming continues to gain momentum nationally, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has launched a far-reaching initiative to address the city’s air quality and growing population.

His innovative PlaNYC, announced in early May, features 127 proposals to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide gas — a major cause of global warming — by 30 percent and build the infrastructure necessary for an expected 1 million additional residents by 2030.

Labor leaders throughout the city have applauded most of the mayor’s environmental initiative, but there are reservations about his congestion-pricing plan.

“The mayor has good intentions,” said Executive Director Lillian Roberts about PlaNYC. “This is a commendable step in the right direction to help safeguard our environment.” She cautioned that the feasibility of implementing such a far-reaching plan would need careful study, and said DC37 would be studying the plan thoroughly “to evaluate its impact on our members.”

“Just to have a city government that tries to think 25 years into the future is a big deal,” said Central Labor Council Executive Director Ed Ott.

At the heart of Bloomberg’s PlaNYC — and the most controversial issue in the plan — is a proposal to charge cars and trucks to enter the center of Manhattan during peak hours. He is seeking legislative approval for a three-year pilot program under which passenger vehicles would pay an $8 daily fee to enter or leave Manhattan below 86th Street on business days between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Motorists wouldn’t pay the fee on the West Side Highway or FDR Drive. The revenue from the charge would fund other projects in the plan. A congestion-pricing charge has been implemented in London.

Bloomberg has also called on the federal government to tighten emission standards for automobiles, to create incentives for purchasing hybrid cars, and to build up wind farms and nuclear power plants.

The mayor now needs to convince lawmakers in Albany of the merits of his congestion-pricing bill. He has lobbied lawmakers in Albany on behalf of the measure, which he would like to see passed quickly.

—Alfredo Alvarado