In April 2023, New York City launched its new integrated greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory for measuring local contributions to climate change. For the first time, the city is counting emissions from the food and other goods and services that New Yorkers consume. While buildings (35%) and transportation (21%) remain the top sources of local emissions, …
Every year, New York City residents and businesses generate 1.8 million tons of organic waste, with nearly all of it ending up in landfills. In particular, organic waste, including food scraps, food-soiled paper, yard debris, is estimated to make up one-third of the waste collected from New York City residences each day. To reduce the …
Over half of the world’s population now lives in cities, and this share is expected to increase in the coming decades. With growing urbanization, cities and their residents face substantial environmental challenges such as higher temperatures, droughts, wildfires, and increased flooding. In response to these pressing challenges, some cities have begun to develop local environmental …
Global Sustainable Cities: Cities and Our Environmental Future Read More »
Though seemingly at odds with one another, a wide variety of living organisms and habitats exist in and around dense urban areas. With more than half of the world’s population now living in cities, and the urban footprint steadily growing, policymakers must think about how to protect the biodiversity that remains within urban areas and …
At the federal level, opportunities and incentives to decarbonize buildings expanded in 2022 due to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. However, many municipalities have seen their powers to steer building decarbonization curtailed in recent years. Notably, between 2020 and 2021, 20 states passed laws that limited local governments’ authority to regulate the installation …
Has the Inflation Reduction Act altered the costs and benefits of electrifying buildings in New York? For instance, will the IRA accelerate the decarbonization of the New York State grid? And will it materially reduce the cost of installing heat pumps? With its slew of incentives for renewable energy and heat pumps, it seems …
Electrification and the Inflation Reduction Act: Has the Calculus Changed? Read More »
The Guarini Center is currently soliciting comments from the public on a new draft article that examines questions surrounding the legality of local impact fees in New York City. Comments, suggestions, or other feedback can be submitted to Adalene Minelli at am8898@nyu.edu. Broadly defined, impact fees are one-time charges imposed on new development as a …
Impact Fees in New York City? Legal Authority, Constraints, and Potential Options Read More »
Impact fees are one-time charges imposed on new development as a condition of approval to offset the development’s impact on local infrastructure, services, and the environment. A revenue-raising tool, they are broadly based on the idea that new development should be responsible for paying for a share of the new or additional public infrastructure and …
On April 22, the Guarini Center submitted brief comments to the New York City Council regarding Local Law 97 to assist the City Council in reviewing the City’s efforts to implement the law. In the comments, the staff provides several observations regarding the design of an alternative compliance mechanism to benefit affordable housing. Read the …
Electrification of building heating systems is expected to play a central role in New York City and New York State’s long-term efforts to decarbonize its building stock. From a climate perspective, this makes sense; buildings will not be able to dramatically reduce their carbon footprints without moving away from onsite combustion of fossil fuels for …
