Mark Oprea
Lakeview Terrace, one of the oldest public housing projects in the country, has long been a site struggling with air pollution.
The city is set to receive part of a $200 million pot, an announcement Tuesday proclaimed, from Bloomberg's American Sustainable Cities initiative to "pursue transformative solutions in the buildings and transportation sectors."
Those dollars, a release from the city said, will also fund a Cleveland-based team of three that will evaluate how handle the city's climate worries through a marriage of data analysis and a concern for social equity.
Cleveland was one of four Ohio cities—including Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton— to join the initiative. From Mayor Justin Bibb's perspective, it will allow the city to hone in on the more impoverished, majority Black neighborhoods that could use that dollar lift the most.
Bloomberg's grant "will support equitable and more rapid implementation of historical funding at the neighborhood level, enhancing resources in our historically disadvantaged communities and reducing the racial wealth gap," Bibb said in a release. "Through this collaborative effort, we will continue to work with residents and key stakeholders to achieve a more equitable and environmentally resilient city for all Clevelanders."
Millions of dollars should provide a major lift to Cleveland's Public Works and transportation sectors to help actualize a myriad of projects in the pipeline, the grant language suggests. Theoretically, ongoing concepts and in-progress builds with climate perks—like Ohio City's Irishtown Bend Park, Canal Basin Park, or the dozens of streets downtown that NOACA believes could use bike lanes—could receive funding.
As for the other areas of climate concern, the potential for this cash to help is a lot more vague. Regional problems with air quality, flooding and a disappearing tree canopy continue.
Nationally-speaking, Cleveland is a lot less of a thorn in the side of climate activists than other industrial cities, like those in Pennsylvania and California. Cleveland didn't even touch the top 25 of the American Lung Association's "most polluted cities" in its 2023 State of the Air report. (It ranked as one of its Cleanest Cities, minding ozone and particle pollution.)
As for Michael Bloomberg himself, this initiative represents the former New York mayor's long-running battle to bring down the fossil fuel industry, while injecting money into climate-focused cities worldwide with billions of dollars since 2013. A recent report from the Sierra Club stated that Bloomberg's $500 million of climate activism in recent years "helped retire" 370 coal and gas plants nationwide.
He's now, according to a New York Times article from last September, going after petrochemical plants, while propping up cities that want bike lanes and healthier air.
"If there’s something that can destroy the Earth and kill all living people, then it’s hard to argue you shouldn’t focus on that,” Bloomberg told the NYT. “I want my kids, your kids, to be able to have a life.”
Bloomberg's initiative team chose Cleveland, a release said, "based on its leadership and ambition to build resilient, equitable communities."
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