[Source.](https://www.city-journal.org/article/gothams-airheaded-carbon-law) > *Set to take effect next year, the Climate Mobilization Act will make living in New York costlier than ever.* > On Earth Day 2019, then-mayor Bill de Blasio signed the Climate Mobilization Act (Local Law 97) into law, heralding a Green New Deal for New York City. The measure, committing the city to full carbon neutrality by 2050, represented the most aggressive urban climate-change plan in America. Its centerpiece provision seeks to cut greenhouse-gas emissions from buildings, a source that constitutes two-thirds of the city’s total emissions. “In one of the great coastal cities of the world, there’s a lot we have to do to make sure that life in 2050 will be livable,” preached the mayor. > Local Law 97 won’t make life in New York more livable in 2050. On the contrary, starting next year, when its harsh penalties take effect, the law will further raise costs in the world’s priciest housing market, force middle-income New Yorkers to subsidize green industries, and—by discouraging newcomers and driving away existing residents—displace emissions to less carbon-efficient jurisdictions. In exchange for nearly three decades of New York sacrifices, LL97 will reduce global climate emissions by an infinitesimal amount. City officials should instead consider more effective and less burdensome alternatives.