NYC Mayor de Blasio names new climate chief
Mayor de Blasio is appointing a new climate capo, following years of mixed reviews for his track record on the environment and just a matter of months before he leaves office.
Ben Furnas will head the new Mayor’s Office of Climate and Sustainability, which combines two previously existing offices.
He replaces Mark Chambers, who recently left the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability for a White House position, and Dan Zarrilli, who stepped down as de Blasio’s chief climate policy adviser for a yet-to-be-announced job.
The staffing change comes as the mayor works to implement ambitious goals on getting buildings to reduce carbon emissions, among other initiatives.
He has championed a local law requiring large buildings, one of the city’s biggest sources of carbon emissions, to cut down on pollution, but new state regulations on improving ventilation due to COVID could threaten its effectiveness, owners have told the Daily News.
“That’s something we would have to take a look at,” Furnas said of the potential predicament.
Furnas, who worked on de Blasio’s pedestrian safety and infrastructure initiatives, is charged with spearheading climate goals the mayor outlined earlier this year.
Those include banning fossil fuel connections in new construction and bringing Canadian hydropower to the Big Apple.
“The nature of climate change and the climate crisis is that we have no year we can wait, and 2021 is really no exception to that,” Furnas said.
De Blasio leaves office at the end of the year due to term limits.
“Confronting the climate crisis requires bold, immediate action. Ben has the expertise, drive and passion to make these next eight months count,” Hizzoner said.
