At the Copenhagen Climate Summit, as he watched New York State legislaters grapple with budget cutbacks, Michael Bloomberg tried reviving a failed green initiative that could put money back into the local economy: congestion pricing.
“I don’t think congestion pricing, or those kind of things, are dead,” he said on CNBC this morning. “One-half of the legislature, the Albany Assembly, they tried to pass a bill to put congestion pricing around all of Manhattan and they couldn’t get it done. The Senate didn’t go along. Next time, come March, they’re going to have to balance a budget and I think any kind of revenue source will be on the table.”
Bloomberg also defended using a private jet to get to Copenhagen, saying the criticism “is somebody trying to be cute. A small amount of pollution gets me here.” He added, “What we all have to do is only use them when they make sense.”
The official video from CNBC is here. The unofficial, hand-held video of the interview from some bystander, is here.
Bloomberg was also on WNYC’s The Takeaway this morning, talking about the climate talks in Copenhagen.
