New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is prepared to offset his own personal carbon footprint by saddling New Yorkers with a Green New Deal that would ban traditional skyscrapers.
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De Blasio spoke with MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough on Monday’s “Morning Joe,” addressing his proposed Green New Deal for New York City and its desired impact. (RELATED: De Blasio’s Office Issues Guidance On What Should Go In Your Toilet)
“The biggest source of emissions in New York City is buildings,” De Blasio began. “We are putting clear, strong mandates. The first of any city on the earth to say to building owners, ‘clean up your act, retrofit, clean up.’ If you don’t, there’s serious fines, $1 million or more for the biggest buildings. This mandate is going to guarantee we reduce emissions.”
De Blasio took that a step further, saying that future construction projects in New York would look very different. “We are going to ban the glass and steel skyscrapers which are inefficient,” he explained. “If you want to build one, you can take steps to make it energy efficient.”
Then Scarborough challenged the mayor on his own carbon footprint, noting that he often took a full motorcade across town to a gym rather than finding one closer to avoid the excess emissions.
De Blasio responded by claiming that the motorcade was simply part of the cost of being mayor, and said that he preferred to use a gym that kept him “connected” with where he came from.
He then argued that the major steps the city was taking, such as the implementation of his Green New Deal, should be more important than where he went to the gym. “The plans we put forward we are acting on will reduce emissions 30% in all of New York City by 2030. That’s where we make huge change,” he said. “To the question wherever I go in New York City, whether I take a subway, go nearby or farther away, I have a security detail that follows me in their cars either way.”