Tag: paris-climate-accord

November 9, 2020

Viewpoint: Getting Back to Paris

By Evan Mason   In all the confusion and excitement of the post-election drama, some of us may have missed a piece of important news: the day after Election Day, the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement became official. But that doesn’t mean it became permanent.   According to the NY Times, President-Elect Biden plans to inform the United Nations of his decision to rejoin the Paris Climate accord, by executive action. While it’s preferable to go through Congress instead of changing policy in this manner—effectively this stroke of Biden’s pen can easily be reversed by the next president in 2024–it’s clear that the President Elect recognizes the short deadline for reversing the impacts of climate change. (more…)

December 4, 2017

GreenHomeNYC Year in Review: Taking on the Environmental Challenge

by Pamela Berns   It’s been a year marked by extreme weather events, with hurricanes, fires, droughts, and flooding all across the globe. In the United States we saw Houston drown and Santa Rosa burn just a few months after Trump’s pullout from the Paris agreement in June. Climate advocacy groups, local policy makers, corporations, entrepreneurs, individuals, and nonprofits all stepped up their game in defense of the planet, and GreenHomeNYC was no exception.   Thanks to the dedication of our volunteers, we were able to deepen our commitment to providing education and calls to action. Our speakers and our blog writers shared critical information on local policy, business actions, and academic initiatives. Record numbers of event attendees turned up to hear from innovators in energy, food waste, recycling, and sustainable building. Green careerists came out to find out where to point their compasses in the new paradigm.   We’re proud of the hard work that went into this challenging year, and hope that our contributions made a difference. Here are just a few GreenHomeNYC highlights for 2017:   (more…)

July 26, 2017

No Paris? No Problem: Governor Jerry Brown and Michael Bloomberg Launch “America’s Pledge”

by Pamela Berns   Last month, GreenHomeNYC published “No Paris? No Problem: Climate Action Marches On” to demonstrate how the initial disappointment with the White House decision to withdraw from the Paris accord had “morphed into strengthened resolve and galvanized coalition building within and across public and private sectors, U.S. localities, and around the world.”   We are pleased to learn that California Governor Jerry Brown and Michael Bloomberg share our mission: On July 12, these two partners launched “America’s Pledge on climate change, a new initiative to compile and quantify the actions of states, cities and businesses in the United States to drive down their greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.”   Said the press release announcing the partnership, “Building on this positive momentum, the America’s Pledge initiative will for the first time aggregate the commitments of these and other “non-Party actors” in a report on the full range of climate-related activities across the whole of U.S. society. The process of developing America’s Pledge will also provide a roadmap for increased climate ambition from U.S. states, cities, businesses and others, and will transparently demonstrate to the international community how and in which ways these entities can help the U.S. deliver on its pledge under the Paris Agreement.”   You can read more about America’s Pledge here.   You can access the June GreenHomeNYC article here. No Paris? No Problem: Climate Action Marches On  

June 23, 2017

No Paris? No Problem: Climate Action Marches On

by Pamela Berns   As though sending a portentous message, the movie “Paris Can Wait” was playing at the Paris theater just one block from Trump Tower in New York City, when Donald Trump announced the U.S. pullout from the Paris Climate accord. But commitments to climate change action and strategy march on: the initial disappointment with the White House decision quickly morphed into strengthened resolve and galvanized coalition building within and across public and private sectors, U.S. localities, and around the world.   While organizations like NRDC have stepped up their legal and policy battle, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein’s first tweet ever was to tell the administration that the president’s “decision is a setback for the environment and for the U.S.’s leadership position in the world.” California Governor Jerry Brown and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to expand trade between California and China with an emphasis on green technologies, and 313 U.S. mayors joined together in a commitment to “adopt, honor and uphold” the goals and principles of the Paris agreement. And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Despite federal policy, the sustainability and climate change action movements are very much alive, kicking, and in full throttle. The list promises to keep growing, and we invite you to add to it (see the the end of this article to learn how to contribute your stories). Here are just a few more of the most recent reports we’ve come across. (more…)