Michael Bloomberg Accepts 2025 TIME Earth Award
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in Paris, France, on Sept. 17 2021. Credit - Chesnot/Getty Images
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks it's about time we got our act together on the climate fight. During a speech at the TIME Earth Awards in Manhattan on April 23, the U.N. Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies mentioned some recent climate disasters—from the Los Angeles fires to record breaking storms in the Caribbean and the Southeast—and called the widespread destruction 'results of us not paying attention.'
'This is the mistakes we've made for many, many years, coming back to haunt us. And unless we get our act together, it's going to get a lot worse,' he said. 'We are part of the environment. Without the environment, we are nothing.'
He noted that—though the Trump Administration has rolled back many major environmental rules and policies since taking office—it doesn't mean the fight is over. 'Most of the past two decades, leadership on climate change in the U.S. hasn't come from Washington,' he said. 'It has come from the bottom up, from cities and states, activists and grassroots groups, businesses and investors and philanthropists.'
'We've got to just roll up our sleeves, team up together, and get to work here,' he said. It's a call to action he does not take lightly: The former mayor has helped close more than 300 coal-fired power plants in the U.S. and reduced New York City's emissions by nearly 20%. And, after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, his foundation Bloomberg Philanthropies stepped up along with other funders to cover the gap.
Bloomberg said the climate fight is not a partisan one. 'We have a responsibility to leave a better world for our children and grandchildren. And that's not a Democrat or Republican idea. It's not even an American idea,' he said. 'It's a value that stretches across political ideologies and national boundaries. And in this time when some people seem more divided than ever, it ought to be something that really unites us.'
TIME Earth Awards was presented by Official Timepiece Rolex and Galvanize Climate Solutions.
Write to Simmone Shah at simmone.shah@time.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Dozens of anti-ICE protesters busted at Trump Tower after lobby takeover: ‘Bring them home!'
About two dozen anti-ICE protesters swarmed the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan Monday, and were busted after refusing to leave. The mostly grey-haired crowd sat together on the ground, chanting, 'Bring them back! Bring them home!' as NYPD cops descended on the Fifth Avenue skyscraper around 1 p.m. The group called for the release of inmates from the notorious hellhole prison CECOT in El Salvador – where migrants deported from the US, and even 'dangerous' American citizens convicted of heinous crimes are held in overcrowded cells. 'We are demanding that the administration bring back everyone from CECOT to the United States, release them ICE custody, return them to their homes and families and allow them their day in court,' demanded a woman leading the protest. The NYPD confirmed that the protesters were given multiple orders to disperse from the lobby, but refused to comply. An audio recording with the message, 'This is the New York City Police Department. You are occupying these premises unlawfully and without permission. I am ordering you to leave these premises now. If you refuse to leave, you may be subject to arrest,' played before police began placing the crew in zip-tie handcuffs. Sources say 24 demonstrators were rounded up by the NYPD. Charges were not immediately filed.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
State lawmaker's 'My family broke the law to come here' comment causes social media stir
The Brief Minnesota lawmaker Kaohly Vang Her, a St. Paul Democrat, caused a social media stir Monday after saying, "My family broke the law to come here." FOX 9 has confirmed Her is a documented immigrant in Minnesota legally. It would be illegal for an undocumented citizen to serve the Minnesota Legislature. ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A social media firestorm broke out Monday when some people missed the context of a Minnesota DFL Representative's comments on the MinnesotaCare cuts for undocumented adults. What they're saying Rep. Kaohly Vang Her, a Democrat from St. Paul, said, "My family broke the law to come here. I never knew that. I just learned that now. So when you're thinking about voting 'no' on this bill, you're voting 'no' against someone like me." Representative Her's comments led to some widely-shared misinformation with people claiming she's undocumented, and serving the Minnesota Legislature. Why you should care That's not legal, and FOX 9 confirmed Monday she's not undocumented. Her is a citizen who was a Hmong refugee with her family in the 1970s, and whose father found a way to skip a step and get them to the United States faster. Rep. Her had legal documentation, and she was naturalized in junior high school.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Nassau Dems want FBI to dig into NUMC chairman's firing and shady document theft: ‘Smells like a cover-up'
Nassau Democrats are calling on the FBI to probe what they're claiming is a 'cover up' surrounding the sudden firing of the county's top hospital official after documents tied to a federal investigation were stolen from his home. In a new letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, Nassau Democrats are urging the agency to investigate Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman's unexpected ousting of Nassau University Medical Center chair Matthew Bruderman — who was booted from his post in April just hours after someone broke into his home and stole a batch of files. 'We're laying out and raising questions that no reasonable government would ignore,' Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton told reporters Monday at a press conference in Mineola. 'We want the truth, and we want it now,' she said, calling on the FBI to uncover whether Bruderman's dismissal was politically motivated. At the time of the firing — four hours after The Post broke the news of the burglary — Blakeman declined to explain his reasoning for removing Bruderman, but is now denying that the break-in had anything to do with it. 'Matt Bruderman did an outstanding job of reducing the hospital's deficit by $120 million and the County Executive replaced him with Health Commissioner Dr. Irina Gelman,' Chris Boyle, a Blakeman spokesperson, told The Post, 'primarily because he felt that the leadership should shift from concentrating on financial issues to medical and patient care issues to which Dr. Gelman was eminently qualified.' County Legislator Seth Koslow, a former prosecutor who is challenging Blakeman in November, isn't buying his explanation — likening the county executive's actions to 'obstruction 101.' 'As a former prosecutor, something doesn't add up,' said Koslow, a Democrat. 'Whichever way you slice it, this smells like a cover-up and the public deserves an explanation.' Dems also said they submitted a Freedom of Information of Law request for the since-recovered documents stolen from Bruderman's Oyster Bay home — not knowing what they may reveal. Those documents are tied to an FBI investigation, according to Long Island pols, into allegations that state and local officials diverted more than $1 billion in federal hospital funds over decades as part of a scheme to financially cripple NUMC and pave the way for its closure. The FBI declined to confirm that investigation. Meanwhile, Nassau County police has since taken over the April burglary from Center Island PD but declined to comment since the case remains part of an ongoing investigation. Bruderman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At the time of his firing, Bruderman told The Post he was used as a political pawn, alleging that Blakeman orchestrated a backroom deal, although he did not offer specifics. The FBI did not respond to The Post's request for comment.
