Transforming through transitions? The politics of energy retrofit implementation in NYC

Abstract

As cities strive to curb their carbon emissions to mitigate global climate change, they increasingly pursue building performance legislation and financial incentives for energy-efficiency and electrification as the sticks and carrots of climate policy. In NYC, the Climate Mobilization Act establishes emissions limits for existing large buildings, setting an emissions reduction horizon for the city’s largest class of emitters. While the passage of the law in 2019 was heralded as a massive climate victory, the iterative rule-making process to set the various parameters of the law’s regulatory framework has resulted in ongoing contestation over implementation. Meanwhile, NYC’s municipal government has established a technical assistance hub to assist building owners as they navigate a diverse array of public incentives available for energy upgrades. Nevertheless, many owner-residents of multi-family apartment buildings struggle to leverage climate finance as they grapple with decades of deferred maintenance as well as labor limitations. This paper draws from interviews and participant observation of organizing, advocacy, and assistance supporting energy upgrades to buildings in NYC, where the nuanced work of climate policy and finance implementation serves as a site for developing robust definitions of place-based climate justice that are premised on historicized understandings of racialized vulnerabilities while advocating for transformative urban futures.