New York City’s Clean Heat Program Succeeds In Reducing Air Pollution

The New York City’s Air is Cleaner a Decade after the Introduction of the Clean Heat Program, which poured Money into Resources to help Buildings Convert to Clean Heating Fuels, according to a New Study published in the Journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The Program was effective for both High- and Low-Income Neighborhoods.

Before the Conversion Program, which was introduced in 2012, City Buildings used Three Types of Oils for Heating: Oil No. 2, Oil No. 4, and Oil No. 6. The Study tracked Pollution from 2012 to 2016, when the City Banned Oil No. 6.

The Bloomberg Administration launched the Program as part of the Mayor’s PlaNYC, with $100 Million to Fund the Conversions.

Using City Data, the Authors, a Team of Columbia and Drexel Researchers, found that shifting away from #6 in particular, was Associated with Marked Reductions in the Three Pollutants examined. Conversion from the other Oils was similarly correlated with Decreases in Pollution.

“The reductions in these air pollutants are likely to result in several potential health benefits and in general improve population health outcomes in New York City,” said Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and Senior Author of the Study.

The Investigators note, however, that there might be some other Variables that could Partially Account for some of the Decreases in Pollution. Still, they concluded that, the Clean Heat Program was Successful in its stated Aims, and that a Reduction in Pollutants would likely Improve Population Health Outcomes in the City.

“There had been previous reports that low-income communities encountered more barriers in the transition away from oil No. 6,” Kioumourtzoglou said. “So we were concerned about possible equity implications of the policy. But what we found in our analysis was that the largest reductions occurred in the lowest- and highest-income communities in New York, which was encouraging.”

When the Project was First announced in 2012, Fred Krupp, President of Environmental Defense Fund, noted that “the heating oils used in 1% of New York City buildings create more soot pollution than all the cars and trucks in the city combined—that’s why upgrading these buildings to cleaner heating fuel is the single largest step New Yorkers can take to solve local air pollution.”

The Next Steps of the Clean Heat Program include Banning Oil No. 4 by 2030.










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