Mayor Bloomberg, who has made news of late for the rumor that he is setting aside $1 Billion for an independent presidential run, may be having difficulty winning support in Albany for his congestion pricing plan. The plan did win praise from former President Clinton today during the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in Manhattan.
“The longer I wait in traffic, the better I like it,” Clinton said. “I remember when people said (Bloomberg) was committing political suicide when he came out for smoke-free restaurants when restaurant revenues were already down about 15% after 9/11. He clearly was right and events proved him right. So I wouldn’t bet against the mayor’s judgment on this.”
The mayor responded with his own, quintessentially Bloombergesque praise for Clinton, saying the ex-president had taught him “a great deal about leadership, about being strong, about being charismatic, about being tall and handsome and Southern.”
The two pols joined forces for an announcement that 15 cities will receive $5 million loans from private banks to outfit buildings with green technology
Perhaps all the climate-friendly talk at the summit went to the head of one reporter, who referred to Bloomberg as “Mayor Greenberg.” Bloomberg quipped: “I don’t know if that was a Freudian slip.”
Getting mayors to save energy in their cities, acting where larger entities will not, seems like a noble plan, though not inviting NGOs to the meeting leads me to believe that the plans will be executed in a manner to ensure that the energy companies and consultancies are the biggest winners here.
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