The next round of community conversations for the update of PlaNYC was announced. For more on the update process see my post on PlaNYC 2.0. The schedule for upcoming meetings is:

Upper Manhattan
Monday, December 6th, 2010
7:00PM – 9:00PM
State Office Building 2nd Flr. Gallery
163 West 125th Street, (enter on 126th)
A, B, C, D, 2, 3,4,5,6 trains to 125th
Community Partner: WEACT

Eastern Queens
Thursday, December 9th, 2010
7:00PM – 9:00PM
Bayside High School
32-24 Corporal Kennedy Street, Bayside NY 11361

South Brooklyn
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
6:00PM – 8:00PM
St. Michael’s RC Church, 352 42nd Street,
Enter at Auditorium on 43rd St.
R train to 45th and the D,N,R to 36th
Community Partner: UPROSE

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle is proud that Brooklyn is featured prominently in PlaNYC imagery.

The C40 Climate Leadership Group met in November Hong Kong for a workshop titled Low Carbon Cities for High Quality Living. The group consists of leaders from large cities around the world committed to tackling global climate change.  New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was elected chair of the group. The group’s website includes informative sections on best practices and climate action plans from around the world.

Lastly, in a recent post about the ongoing climate negotiations in Cancún, Mexico, Andrew Revkin (author of NY Times DotEarth blog) mourns the absence of Ted Kheel and his conflict resolution skills.

The New York Times reports that Paterson administration officials said they “hoped that Andrew M. Cuomo, the governor-elect, would use it as a guide in promoting a shift to clean energy in New York State.” The NYTimes article also comments on Paterson administration actions that have cut funds to state environmental organizations tasked with accomplishing the very goals outlined in the Climate Action Council’s report.

Yes, New York State is in an unprecedented budget crisis, but the governor’s own report calls for turning “climate policy into an engine for economic growth.” The logic of this report, and of PlaNYC, and many other green house gas reduction plans is that it makes long-term economic sense to go green. Let’s hope governor-elect Cuomo has the foresight to restore environmental funding and invest even more into green initiatives that will reduce carbon emissions and strengthen the economy at the same time. Better yet, let’s make sure Cuomo moves forward with the goals of Climate Action Council report.

Submit your comments on the website: http://www.nyclimatecomments.us/ or send written comments to:

Climate Action Plan
NYSERDA
17 Columbia Circle
Albany, NY 12203-6399

Sign up for the Climate Action Plan mailing list (listserve) (under “Contact Us” on the left hand side) to receive direct notification of an informational webinar, public hearings and other information related to the Climate Action Plan.

Contact governor-elect Cuomo via his campaign website: http://www.andrewcuomo.com/contact

Now it is time for PlaNYC 2.0. Mayor Bloomberg’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability recently released a progress report about the plan that can be downloaded here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/news/update.shtml. As part of the mandated four year update of the plan, they are now soliciting public feedback through internet sites, emails, text messages, and community conversation meetings.

I attended one such community conversation on October 19th, 2010. This meeting was held at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, a CUNY school. David Bragdon, the newly appointed head of PlaNYC reported on the progress of the plan’s goals thus far and acknowledged the feedback that had already been voiced about including solid waste, food systems, and sustainable economic growth into the updated plan. In the breakout session that I participated on we discussed climate change. The people within my group emphasized that the goal of a 30% reduction by 2030 may not be ambitious enough to avoid severe climate change consequences. The burning question about the carbon reduction goals of PlaNYC right now may be: How do we reach the 30% reduction goal sooner than 2030? It was fitting that this community conversation was held at a CUNY school because the CUNY system (along with other major NYC universities) has agreed to accept the challenge to reduce the institutional carbon footprint by 2017 instead of by 2030. Whatever your feelings are about the merits of PlaNYC, at the very least it has shown the potential to open dialogues about sustainability. In my future posts I plan to cover CUNY’s efforts to meet the ambitious 2017 deadline, and place these efforts in the context of PlaNYC, other New York City sustainability efforts, and sustainability efforts across the country and around the world.

Do you have any ideas you would like to see incorporated into the update of PlaNYC?

Here’s how you can participate.

Community Conversation Meetings

Bronx
October 26, 6-8 pm
Lincoln Hospital, Bronx
First Floor Conference area, Main Entrance
234 East 149th Street, Between Morris and Park
Co-sponsored by Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice and the Campaign for New York’s Future
Transit

West Queens
November 3, 6-8 pm
Frank Sinatra School for the Arts
Tony Bennett Concert Hall
35-12 35th Avenue, Astoria 11106
Co-Sponsored by the Campaign for New York’s Future
Transit

[Several meetings have already occurred, and additional events will be announced]

Website to vote for ideas:

www.allourideas.org/planyc

Text Message #:

Fill in the blank by texting your idea to 917-791-3064 (the official PLANYC mobile input unit.) “One idea to create a greener, greater New York City is to ____.”