New York Gwen Schantz strides in the drizzle over the roof of the old warehouse on the former moorings of Sunset Park in west Brooklyn. The gaze of the young lady in jeans and a windbreaker sweeps over the water reservoir, the bay and the skyscrapers of Manhattan.
It is August 28, and in the far back this early afternoon the ship “Malizia” with its black sails and Greta Thunberg on board is sailing past the Statue of Liberty towards Manhattan.
But Schantz did not go up to the roof to watch the climate activist move into New York.
She works here. There is earth under her feet, and tomatoes, peppers and rocket are growing to the right and left of her.
“This is the largest rooftop farm in all of New York,” explains Schantz, who co-founded the Brooklyn Grange company and has been planting New York roofs for ten years – with grass or crops like here in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park district.
The planted roof not only cools the top floor of the eight-story building, in which warehouse workers once stowed the goods from the nearby jetties and on the lower floors today “Saks Off 5th” and “Bed, Bath & Beyond” sell their clothes and bath towels.
It also cools the city and protects it from the environmentally harmful effects of the often heavy downpours in New York. When it pours, torrents regularly form in the streets of New York and the sewage treatment plants overflow. The result: Uncleaned dirty water flows directly into the rivers and the sea.
Year after year, municipal sewage treatment plants allow 100 billion liters of unfiltered water to run out. “Our roof alone holds 174,000 gallons. That is 174,000 gallons that do not go into the sea uncleaned, ”explains entrepreneur Schantz. That is the equivalent of almost 659,000 liters.
The Barcleys Center in Brooklyn, New York. The implementation of the green area on the roof serves as a model for future projects.
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(Photo: Max Brugger for Handelsblatt)
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The City of New York has also recognized that New York’s roofs represent huge potential for environmental protection and the fight against climate change. What Brooklyn Grange has been doing for years will soon be the rule in the financial metropolis of the USA.
From November 1st, all new buildings must have either solar panels or plants on their roofs.
That was decided by the city council under the leadership of Mayor Bill De Blasio. In April, of all places, in the financial capital of the USA, politicians passed a “Climate Mobilization Act” with a large majority – a kind of Green New Deal for New York City – which is one of the most ambitious in the country.
Buildings with more than 2,500 square meters must reduce their emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and by at least 80 percent by 2050.
The realization
Since buildings produce almost three-quarters of the greenhouse gases in New York, the city has primarily focused its plans on this. In addition to reducing emissions, all new houses will soon be equipping their roofs with either solar cells or plants.
It will also make it easier to install wind turbines in the city. The 24 gas-fired power plants still running in the city are to be completely closed and replaced by renewable energies. Corey Johnson, the city council spokesman, calls the package the most ambitious energy efficiency legislation in the country. “We are on the verge of a climate disaster and New York is doing something. I hope other cities will follow, ”says Johnson.
From November 1st, all new buildings must have either solar panels or plants on their roofs.
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(Photo: Max Brugger for Handelsblatt)
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When you think of environmental protection and the USA, you usually think of California. But recently, not only the city councilors of the city of New York, but also the MPs of the state of New York have set themselves even more ambitious climate targets than their colleagues on the west coast.
The state, which stretches to the Canadian border, has been completely controlled by the Democrats since the 2018 elections and can thus prevail against the new tone in Washington. While the White House is ruled by a president who denies human responsibility for climate change and wants to get out of the Paris climate protection agreement, a new climate protection law – the Climate Bill – came into force in New York State in July.
Thereafter, the state should reduce its greenhouse gases to zero by 2050. Petrol cars and oil heating should be a thing of the past by then, and all energy should come from CO2-free sources by 2040.
Kit Kennedy, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the new law “the most ambitious piece of climate legislation we’ve seen,” and praised that it applies and is fair to the entire economy.
“Calling for a green movement is empty political rhetoric unless it is combined with specific aggressive goals and plans for how to achieve them,” New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said at the signing of the law.
“It is fantastic that they are referring to the Paris Agreement in their law to ensure that the United States does not fall behind,” said Allison Morrill Chatrchyan, director of the Institute for Climate Change and Agriculture at the prestigious Cornell University. “New York State’s new law has very ambitious goals,” she explains.
Local residents and tourists alike enjoy the view of Manhattan.
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(Photo: Max Brugger for Handelsblatt)
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The strategy
The state relies heavily on offshore wind farms and climate-friendly initiatives at the community level. For example, municipalities can apply for the title “Climate Smart Community” by participating in a ten-step program.
The steps range from climate-friendly use of space to transport solutions and the reduction of emissions. The municipalities can then use the label to attract investors and new residents. Even if Donald Trump raves about the “beautiful clean coal”, he cannot impose it on anyone. “The state determines the energy mix within a state. Washington can’t talk into that, ”explains Chatrchyan.
Other states such as Maine, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, California, New Jersey and Hawaii have set their own goals for their energy mix, all of which go in the direction of renewable energies. Cornell director Chatrchyan also praises the plans of the city of New York .
She assumes that smaller initiatives – such as Brooklyn Grange – and solar systems can bring about change there. “New York is already a very sustainable city,” emphasizes Chatrchyan. Since people lived in a small space, they could move around on foot, by bike or by train to get to work or to go shopping.
“New York City has the lowest CO2 emissions per capita of any American city,” says Chatrchyan. Nevertheless, New York wants to do even more and, like the state, is opposing the trend in the White House.
Chatrchyan welcomes this and points out that cities in general play an important role in climate legislation. “They can sometimes be test laboratories for measures that are later transferred to the federal level,” explains the climate expert.
In any case, the New York roof farmer Gwen Schantz is happy that her years of lobbying work with the city are finally bearing fruit and that green roofs are now a must for new buildings. “I would have liked to have passed the law ten years ago.
Then the many new houses from the real estate boom of recent years would be green today, ”says Schantz, while she takes a look at the aubergines. Your company will definitely benefit from the new law. After all, Brooklyn Grange doesn’t just run the three rooftop farms.
The company also planted roofs for others. Her customers include the large Jacob Javits exhibition center in south-west Manhattan. Many more roofs will soon be greened. Schantz remains optimistic about the future of their country: “I think the Americans are much more realistic than Donald Trump when it comes to the climate,” she says.
Cornell Director Chatrchyan sees the situation similarly: “This government is terrible for the environment and the climate. But luckily it is only temporary. “
More: Japan Believes in Hydrogen: How Alternative Propulsion is Promoted in the Far East.
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