NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Monday unveiled his plan to fight climate change.
More solar power for schools, libraries and other city buildings as well as breaking ground on a massive clean energy complex at Wards Island Water Resource Recovery Facility are among his main initiatives.
Adams is also stressing "environmental justice."
"People of color face greater danger from climate change and extreme weather even though they contribute the least to our emissions," Adams said. "It's been that way for far too long, but we're going to change it. Climate justice is social justice."
Adams also has his eye on renewable energy, coastal resiliency and protection from inland flooding — the kind that turned deadly during Ida.
"Whatever projects we're doing now should not be built for what was in the past," Adams said.
The mayor, a devout vegan, said New Yorkers need to look to their plates as well. He wants to make the city more vegetarian and vegan-friendly by focusing on what he calls the "over consumption of meat and dairy."
"It is often ignored the role that food plays in the destruction of our environment," said Adams. "No one wants to talk about that, the over-consumption of meat and dairy."
Adams said he won't become a "nanny mayor," but insisted that food options, especially at schools, need to improve.
"The children have been calling me and saying they want better food in schools," Adam said.
The mayor also named his climate leadership team that will focus on environmental protection and environmental justice across the city.
Adams appointed Rohit T. Aggarwala as chief climate officer and commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Vincent Sapienza as chief operations officer of DEP, and Kizzy Charles-Guzman as executive director of the new Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice.
“It is evident to anyone who opens their eyes that we are in the midst of a climate crisis in this city and around the world, so it’s time to think outside the box and determine how we can handle the crisis before it's too late,” said Adams. “This past year alone, we have experienced extreme weather anomalies and rising sea levels, which have endangered New Yorkers’ lives, their homes, and their livelihoods. The remnants of these different calamities are still being repaired to this day, but my administration is committed to transforming the city’s quality of life and fighting for environmental justice for all New Yorkers, and this team is exactly who will get the job done for New Yorkers.”