Bloomberg plan to clean up New York City applauded.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ambitious plan to tackle New York City's energy consumption and environmental pollution have been widely applauded in the construction and design community.

"CEC has worked extensively with government and the private sector to incorporate energy-efficiency measures in apartment buildings. This work has had a real impact on air quality, proving that what the mayor is calling for is doable," said Richard Cherry, founder and president of the non-profit Community Environmental Center.

Last year, the CEC carried out work that will ultimately reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 10,000 tons according to Cherry, who said that he believes it is possible to have real impact upon the environment and reducing greenhouse gasses through local actions.

Cherry hailed Bloomberg's new "PlaNYC" blueprint for the city's growth, particularly the reduction of greenhouse gases in a city where 79% of carbon dioxide emissions come from buildings, unlike other US cities where vehicles are the chief air polluters.

Mayor Bloomberg's policy speech contained 126 initiatives and marked the culmination of thousands of hours of work, informed by public meetings and feedback from New Yorkers, designed to achieve the sustainability goals that the Mayor laid out in a December 12, 2006 speech at the Queens Museum.

Those goals include: housing an additional one million New Yorkers affordably; increasing access to parks, playgrounds and open spaces; reclaiming brownfields; developing critical backup systems for our aging water network to ensure reliability reducing water pollution so we can open our waterways for recreation; providing additional reliable power sources and upgrading existing power plants.