What Planet Are New York City's Mayoral Candidates Living On?

Last Thursday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. The pact, organized by Seattle mayor Greg Nickels, aims to meet or beat the emissions-reduction targets spelled out in the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. (That is, a reduction of seven percent from 1990 levels by 2012.) In a clear rebuke to the Bush administration, which refuses to sign on to Kyoto or even acknowledge the science of global warming, 137 mayors representing 30 million Americans have signed-on to the agreement. For its part, the Bloomberg administration has committed New York City to reducing emissions by transforming its municipal car fleet to hybrid gasoline-electric powered vehicles.

While it’s nice to see the city getting on board with Kyoto—and what could be better than forcing Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz to trade in his SUV for a Prius?—most scientists believe that, at this late date, the measures spelled out in the Kyoto Protocol don’t reduce emissions fast enough to significantly arrest global warming. And New York City’s municipal fleet, huge though it is, contributes only a minuscule percentage of the city’s total greenhouse gases. Look at the far-reaching traffic-reduction strategies being implemented by the mayors of London and Paris, and it’s obvious that New York City could, with just a little bit of effort, do vastly more to cut down on harmful emissions while improving quality of life, boosting the economy and maintaining New York City’s edge as a global leader.

If the Democratic primary campaign underway is any indicator, it doesn’t look like we’re going to get that effort anytime soon. Facing up to the big challenges of the 21st century isn’t up for discussion this election season. Environmental issues aren’t even on the radar. Rather than looking forward and leading, the city’s Democrats seem to be much more interested in looking back and settling old scores. For two months, the candidates, their base supporters, and the media conflict-mongers who frame the public debate, have been talking about Amadou Diallo, the unarmed African immigrant who died in a hail of police gunfire back in 1999. If you had just woken up from deep hibernation and dropped in on the campaign, you would probably think it was 2001.

But it’s 2005. And other cities around the U.S. are getting serious about tackling global issues on the local level. Seeing the mayor of Seattle organize a national coalition to support a global treaty, you get a sense of what we’re missing here in New York. The planet may be melting but our Democratic machine is frozen in the past. They don't have time to fight global warming. They're still fighting the Crown Heights riots. Is it any wonder that the Demcoratic candidates' messages aren’t sticking or appealing? There is no progressive vision. There is really nothing to get excited about.

Living in a man-made world of concrete, it’s easy to forget about the environment. The environment is something they have in Alaska or Antarctica, not here. But New York City has a major role to play in the environmental movement. One of the most destructive forces at work on the planet today is American-style, car-based, suburban sprawl. Sprawl is the most wasteful, inefficient and unsustainable pattern of living human society has ever conceived. Livable cities are, in many ways, the antidote to sprawl. It may come as a shock, but New Yorkers are some of the “greenest” Americans there are. Living piled on top of each other, commuting by foot, bike and transit, we consume far less land and energy than other Americans. This is why urban quality of life is not just a bourgeois issue. It’s no longer simply about police actions to get rid of squeegee men and graffiti artists. Creating a high quality of life for all New Yorkers is an environmental issue of global significance.

Yet quality of life simply doesn’t get framed in broader environmental terms in New York City. There’s no language for it. And other than a few special interest groups, there’s no constituency for it, either. To the old-fashioned, liberal, Democratic machine, the only issues worth talking about are education, jobs and affordable housing. And these issues are all viewed through the thick, highly charged haze of identity politics. Ultimately, this makes it seem like the only thing New York City Democrats are truly capable of talking about is race. And that may very well be the reason why in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by at least 4 to 1, Republicans have won the mayoralty three times in a row, going on four.

3:42 PM | Link |