New York City is one of the most energy-efficient places in the United States, thanks to its high population density and excellent (by US standards) transit. However, it is also one of the most expensive places, thanks to its extremely high cost of housing. This article calls for an ambitious increase in the local housing supply to address both affordability and climate change. It is published in City Limits, a news publication focused on New York City policy issues.
The article embodies several themes in solutions & strategy for addressing global catastrophic risk. First, it relates climate change to the more prominent policy issue of housing affordability; this practice is known as mainstreaming. Second, it emphasizes how addressing climate change will bring co-benefits, which are benefits on other issues, in this case affordability. Third, it leverages a policy window—a window of opportunity in which policymakers are open to action. The housing affordability crisis is currently a major focus of policy activity in New York City.
In the GCRI 2022 Annual Report, we announced a shift toward public outreach with an emphasis on constructive solutions for reducing the risk. This article is in that spirit. Articles along these lines may not always resonate with readers from the international global catastrophic risk community. That’s OK; it’s not the intended audience. Instead, the audience is people who can significantly influence the risk, regardless of how motivated they are to do so, in this case people involved in New York City housing policy debates.
For further perspective on climate change and global catastrophic risk, see Doing Better on Climate Change.
The article is available in City Limits.
Image credit: Joe Shlabotnik
