Whatever your personal views may be regarding Michael Bloomberg, you've got to hand it to him for taking an environmentally-friendly stance. While proposing plans such as windmills, parks, and congestion pricing, Bloomberg wants to make New York City “the first environmentally sustainable 21st-century city.” But unfortunately, not everyone is as environmentally conscious as others.
Many of Bloomberg's plans have been foiled by the government, including a plan for controversial price congestion and a proposal to require all NYC taxies to be hybrids. The problem with our government and this country (in environmental terms) is that no one plans for the future. In a report released in January of this year, the U.S. ranked 39th (of 149) for environmental performance, the bottom of the Group of 8 industrialized nations (France, Germany, United States, Britain, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia). Why is it that the E.U. is leading the world in environmentally-friendly legislation and movements?
Perhaps they are looking forward a bit more. Everyone in America has an instant-gratification attitude- 'I want it now. I want to see immediate results. I have absolutely no patience to wait for anything, including spending my tax money on an issue that probably won't even affect me in my lifetime.' Well, let's see how that attitude worked in the economy- it flunked. People were so greedy that they could not wait to save money from hard work, but rather took out massive mortgages and maxed out multiple credit cards with hardly any government regulation. Now look where we're at- in a big fat recession. Perhaps had we thought about the future consequences, we would have been a bit more hesitant when charging the latest fad on our VISA.
The same goes for the environment. We have to be forward-thinking. We have to start planning and take immediate action. Global climate change is ocurring and it it manmade. All we can do now is try to develop new technology to combat this and take measures to prevent future environmental degredation. And until lazy Americans are forced to promote this change, nothing will improve. So Bloomberg has taken an important step in the right direction- he is advocating envirnomental activisim. If only there were more environmentally conscious politicians and less greedy corporations (and excessive consumers) polluting the environment!
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6 comments:
This is all so true-- sustainable environmental policy is NOT instant gratification, but it's not like the need for it is going to go away if we ignore it. Ignoring it just complicates the solution.
Look at the American auto industry-- they resisted early efforts at tougher emission standards, but that just made it harder to export to European countries and to compete with European imports in places within this country with tougher standards, and eventually they had to make the change anyway, but behind, especially, German cars.
The US should stop falling behind and lead the charge on environmental policy.
I cannot agree with you more, but in our society today it is nearly impossible for anyone not to think of themselves. I voted no on Prop 1A because I knew the light rail wouldn't affect me if I didn't live in California for much longer. So I guess you can call me self-centered, but in my eyes, it's just our society.
In response to New York going green...I doubt that happens anytime soon. New York is filled with taxis and congestion that it seems almost impossible for the Big Apple to go green anytime soon.
It's unfortunate that we live in the society that we do, but hopefully Obama changes it for the better.
New York going green affects a lot of people who like to only think of themselves. The biggest issue in Bloomberg's is congestion pricing. Look at what has happened in London, nevermind the fact its one of the most ridiculously overpriced cities in the world (gotta love the pound), of the 13 goals Transport for London (TFL) proposed to accomplish by 2010 only 5 will be achieved. Congestion levels remain high, despite all motorists paying eight pounds a day. Emissions levels are still high. Of the 250 million pounds raised by the charge, 150m pounds were spent enforcing the charge. The charge has hurt businesses the most, retail and food industries in the city have seen a 7% decrease in sales, while outside the zone in greater London there has been a 3% increase in sales that has been attributed to the congestion charge.
What I think needs to be looked at when implementing "go green" policies is the effectiveness. I think a lot of the problem that happened in London was the backlash that resulted. Mayor Ken Livingston is no longer in office, and many of the environmentally friendly laws that were to be enacted have been scrapped from the books, like an emissions charge.
TFL didn't reexamine the other issues relating to congestion, like how the London Underground system is the most expensive rail in the world. After the implementation of the charge only three additional bus lines were added in the city.
What Bloomberg needs to learn from this is if you don't want as many private motorists in your city creating more and more pollution, you better have outstanding alternatives because like you said in the post the majority of people only think of themselves.
Sidenote: This was not supposed to be this long.
I agree we need to be forward-thinkers and think about our future before it’s too late. However, I feel that, like everything in America, we need to wait for a certain environmental holiday or environmental month in order for us to start thinking green and raise awareness of this issue. Not that I feel that we should wait, but the truth is, we go on and about with our lives without stopping to think about the future. Perhaps we don’t want to think about the future and wish to live in the present time and perhaps, like you have suggested, we are lazy people. We need government to create laws that will make us think and penalize those that do not. Otherwise, Mother Nature with the help of God will punish us for not having realized that we need to change our habits so that they benefit America’s environment and the world. I propose that the government enforce laws to those who do not recycle and should reward or create some incentives for those that do beyond just simply money. Perhaps one way people can be rewarded for being environmental activist is by getting a token of recognition by their local government, a certificate, a letter signed by their local politician. In addition, people should not have their face and their name on the local newspaper for receiving a DUI as they do in the state of Minnesota, but rather have their face featured for being an environmental hero.
Sorry Yvonne but I think an incentive strategy for individual citizens is a little over the top. I can understand givng tax breaks etc. to companies practicing innovative green policies, but someone who wants to drive a Prius or recycle doesn't need government recognition.
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