We typically view New York City as a lumbering giant metropolis that has to continually address problems that occur within it’s infrastructure. Mayor Bloomberg has been instrumental in transforming the perceptions as of late with his forward thinking PLANYC2030 and his recent comments regarding a tax on Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emitters. He is insistent on having New York take the lead against Global Warming. With tremendous political backlash, Mayor Bloomberg is taking a stand and calling for a national carbon tax on those companies/industries that are contributing to global warming and crediting those who don’t. If we’re going to remain the world’s economic superpower, we have to create predictable incentives that will drive technological innovations and allow us to lead the world in developing clean, reliable and affordable energy and a national carbon tax can lead us in that direction. In 1993, President Clinton persuaded the House to adopt a B.T.U. tax (a tax on the heat content of fuels), but the effort died in the Republican controlled Senate. Many American politicians have considered endorsing a carbon tax political suicide but Bloomberg has the cache to take the lead on it. Cities and states (Denver, Colorado also being a leader with its Green Print
initiative) are starting to take action, but the fact is, no matter how far we push the boundaries of the possible, there will be no substitute for federal leadership. Leadership is not waiting for others to act, or bowing to special interests, or making policy by polling or political calculus. And it’s not hoping that technology will rescue us down the road or forcing our children to foot the bill. Leadership is about facing facts, making hard decisions and having the independence and courage to do the right thing, even when it’s not easy or popular.
Green energy is going to be the oil gusher of the 21st century, and if we’re going to remain the world’s economic superpower, we’ve got to be the pioneers.
