Environmental Sustainability in New York City     

   Environmental Sustainability in New York City                                                                                       

Introduction

A city is a place where people come together to live, work and play together. It is in these cities where the incubation of innovative ideas, entrepreneurship, and social dynamism among other important engines for social and economic growth takes place, all of which are necessary for national consciousness. A combination of all the people congregating to reside in the cities become the thinkers and doers that champion the implementation of all that is necessary for economic growth.

Despite the cities being a hub for economic growth and national consciousness, there are some prominent issues that emerge from the fact that people rampantly move to settle in the cities in search of greener pastures. Such challenging fractures include inter alia; energy and environmental sustainability, urban housing, health, education, gun violence, racial equity, technology and data, inclusiveness, diversity and demographics, infrastructure, public safety, budgets and economic development.

Environmental Sustainability in New York City

Environmental sustainability basically refers to making use of the natural resources in the environment in a responsible way to avoid depletion, and degradation to ensure that the future generation’s ability to meet their needs is not jeopardized while at the same time comfortably meeting the needs of today’s population, mainly to allow for a long-term preservation of environmental quality. Nature has a peculiar ability to care for itself.  This tremendous ability is however jeopardized when human beings come into the picture and make use of the environment’s natural resources without applying the necessary environmental sustainability methods. Long-term viability is hence compromised, resulting to the environment’s inability to rejuvenate itself and sustain its viability. A good example of the environment’s ability to rejuvenate itself can be seen in a scenario where when a tree falls, it decomposes and ends up adding nutrients to the soil which provide a sustainable condition for the growth of future saplings.

One of the leading sustainable design consulting firms came up with a conclusion that New York City is the most sustainable city in the United States, and 20^th internationally. According to Sadik-Khan and Solomonow (2016), Living in the City is a personal choice and therefore careful strategies must be put in place to make the city a desirable place to live in. New York is used as the Example of the deeper cultural, social, and political questions that arise in the process of trying to chart a path towards smart growth.

The impact of environmental challenges can be felt within a city’s own borders and beyond, extending globally. Some of these environmental challenges include inter alia; carbon emissions which are a result of human activities. These emissions extend to forests, agriculture, water and many other surfaces beyond the city’s boundaries. It is therefore safe to say that failure to apply environmental sustainability methods while using natural resources not only impacts residents of the city but also humans and other living things above and beyond the city. Mykleby, et al., (2016)

One of the measures of these side effects is the ecological footprint. This is a metric that measures how much nature a city has against how much nature it uses. It basically measures nature’s demand and supply, for instance; the ecological resources needed by a certain city in order to produce the natural resources it consumes. Ecological footprint aids a city in improving its sustainability and well-being and helps individuals understand their impact on the planet.

New York, among other cities has an ecological footprint that is larger than its actual size. It is face with challenges such as global warming, acid rain, and reduction of the ozone layer among others. Ksenija (2016). New York City has proposed some policies and planning intervention to curb the challenges facing the environment to enhance sustainability.

1. Outdoor Air Quality

The New York City Department of Transportation came up with an initiative called Clean Air New York. This initiative is aimed at supporting downstate air-quality efforts which in turn educates the public on simple changes that take place every day and provide prompt updates on Air Quality Action. A website has also been created that provides public access to national air quality information. This updates are easily accessible by more than 300 American cities. In addition, the website also provides information on ways in which people can protect their health.

All of these implementations ensure that the public is provided with guidance on possible health effects of criteria air pollutants. The public is also educated on ways and actions they can take to reduce exposure to outdoor air pollutants. Mykleby, et al., (2016)

Municipalities within the city also come up with their own Rules to address the local sources of air pollution. Examples of such rules include; New York City Regulations for reducing air pollution from heating oil, an incentive program by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority called “Renewable Heat NY” , for high-efficiency, low emissions wood heating equipment, and US Environmental Protection Agency’s “Strategies For Reducing Residential Wood Smoke”, among others.

2. Water Quality

The best approach that the New York City has taken towards improving on its water quality is Community Water Fluoridation as a health benefit of the public by providing outreach materials and resources to promote water fluoridation. Water fluoridation is basically addition of fluoride at effective levels to publicly available water for reduction of tooth decay. The addition of fluoride to water must be controlled.  The Center for Fluoride Research Analysis; Fluoride Science gives a review of fluoride to improve the quality of fluoride research for policy makers and relevant practitioners.  Ksenija (2016)

Websites have been created to campaign for dental health and to provide easily accessible information to the public on fluoridation and how it works, its costs and its importance to human dental health.  A research shows that for every $1 invested in fluoridation, $38 was saved in treatment costs

Fluoridation however only caters for health risks that are associated with drinking water. Other risks are brought about by water bodies that are used for recreation, for example; Large rivers, lakes and oceans. As a result, action plans have been put in place to ensure reduction of potential public health risks that are brought about by recreational water.   Some of the proposed actions for proper maintenance and operation of waste disposal systems to protect recreational water from contamination include; Septic System Operations and Maintenance, Wastewater Treatment Standards for Individual Residential Onsite Systems, grants to support beach assessments and water quality monitoring and educating the public on sustainable methods of managing wastewater and asset management.

3. Built Environment

Built environment is a term that is used to define things in the surroundings that are human-made, and can be distinguished from the natural environment. In other words, man-made structures form a built environment. Such human-made structures include; buildings (both above and below the ground), parks and all other man-made infrastructure that supports human activities such as, roads, bridges, and telecommunications among others. Sadik- Khan and Solomon (2016).

The built environment impacts public health in that; hundreds of thousands of people crowd in the city in search for greener pastures. This leads to an increment in diseases which in turn leads to a decrease in life expectance. This was however the situation in the 19^th century and thereabout. In the 21^st Century, New York City has made tremendous improvements in the built environment to enhance a sustainable environment for public health.

One of the major implementations New York City put into place was “The Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act” and “The Complete Streets Law”. Smart Growth in practice involves, government incentives, land use regulations and individual actions that can turn investment towards quality of life and better places.

Smart Growth has its own goals which include inter alia; affordable housing, well-planned public spaces, regional land use and transportation planning, pedestrian and bicycle-friendly community design, parks and compact, conservation-oriented development.

The Complete Streets Law gives an opportunity for cyclists, pedestrians and people with disabilities to realize best practices for transportation facilities. Mykleby, et al,. (2016)

Personal Analysis of the policies and planning

One of the biggest limitations to the issue of environmental sustainability is lack of cultural and political control. Most human beings are unable to moderate themselves when it comes to responsibly using the natural resources present in the environment. The rate at which nature is being destroyed is faster than the rate at which it is able to rejuvenate itself. Habitats are destroyed faster than they are regenerated; emission of greenhouse gases is a lot more faster than they can be broken down, places being polluted faster than they can be cleaned up and most importantly consuming water faster than it can be replenished. The result is that natural resources especially agriculture are threatened by extinction, global climate change, widespread pollution, and loss of biodiversity among others.

The public knows that environmental limits exist and they in fact accept that such limits must exist. They even recognize and talk about them. The problem comes when they are required to living within these limits simply because methods to achieve them have not been clearly articulated. Environmental sustainability therefore just boils down to moral and cultural obligations rather than just the legal obligations imposed by the country, city or municipality.

Among the people who are affected by the conditions of their environment, there must be winners and losers. Philosophically, Socrates states that, “No evil can happen to a good person”. This is however not the case when it comes to the harsh conditions of their environment that are caused by misuse of natural resources. Depletion and degradation of natural resources equally affects both those who responsibly used nature’s resources and those who constantly fail to apply environmental sustainability methods, especially in ways such as health and climate change.

There are however some clear winners who gain through their businesses. For instance, a proposal to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from US power plants for the first time was unveiled by the Environmental Protection Agency. This was after Former President Barack Obama highlighted energy strategy as a model for sustainable economic growth.

Managing Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers sustainable business practice pointed out that “Companies selling clean energy and energy efficiency products and services in residential, commercial and utility scale markets are going to benefit.”

References

Sadik- Khan, J and Solomonow, K; “ Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution”. 2016

Ksenija, “Environmental Problems of Major Cities” 2016

Mykleby, M, Doherty, P and Makower, J, “ The New Grand Strategy: Restoring America’s Prosperity, Security and Sustainability in the 21^st Century”. (2016)

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