On March 23, the Environmental Protection Agency released a list of the 40 cities with the highest percentage of energy-efficient buildings. While Los Angeles, Washington and San Francisco made the top three, NYC came in at number ten. When we think about carbon emissions, we often think of cars, trucks, factories, and power plants. We think [...]
As the giant climate classroom in Copenhagen moves toward its closure, some will come away frustrated and even angry, while others may be satisfied or at the very least relieved. Whatever documents may be signed at the end of the meeting, these two weeks of December will have a lasting impact. The stresses on our planet caused [...]
With the Copenhagen Climate Conference about to begin, the issue of New York’s carbon footprint has taken center stage here—just as the city government has been forced to trim back its plans to require large buildings to reduce their use of energy. On Earth Day, 2009, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and city council speaker [...]
The U.N. Summit on Climate Change is underway today in NYC with nearly 100 heads of state in attendance to address carbon emissions and climate change. Several leaders – including the president of the Maldives and the prime minister of Japan — offered impassioned pleas to take action and make strong commitments to reducing carbon [...]
On August 27th, New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced that his office will provide $1.8 million of a $7 million settlement with a number of towns in Westchester that had been illegally dumping raw sewage into the Bronx River. According to Cuomo’s web site: “The funding will be provided to seven entities, including [...]
State of the Planet is a forum for discussion on varying viewpoints. The opinions expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Earth Institute or Columbia University.
