New York Times:

Mayor Drops Key Initiative to Cut Energy Use by Buildings
After intense opposition from building owners, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has dropped the most far-reaching initiative of his plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan, which the owners said was too costly, called for all buildings of 50,000 square feet or more to undergo audits to determine which renovations would make them more energy efficient, and for owners to then pay for many of those changes.
The mayor wants to go forward with the proposal to require energy audits, but now is leaving it up to the building owners whether to undertake the changes called for by those audits.
It would have put New York far ahead of other cities in the green-buildings movement. Many cities require that newly constructed buildings be energy efficient, but do not impose those standards on existing properties. Some 22,000 buildings, together accounting for nearly half the square footage in the city, would have been affected.
“It’s another unfunded mandate, and this is just not the time for it,” said Stuart Saft, chairman of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums, an opponent of the plan. “Come back in five years when we’re past this recession. At this point it’s just a slap in the face.”
Mr. Bloomberg and the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, trumpeted the measure, which they announced on Earth Day, as the key component of “the world’s most comprehensive package” to reduce greenhouse emissions from buildings. It drew praise from former Vice President Al Gore and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California.
Mr. Bloomberg had also said the package of bills would create 19,000 construction jobs, for electricians, insulators and others. Administration officials estimated that most of those jobs would still be created by other provisions of the legislation that called for lighting upgrades and inspections of energy systems in buildings to prevent energy waste. But given that the mayor is dropping the most far-reaching component, the legislation is unlikely to result in anywhere near that, others said.
“I’d be shocked if 5,000 of those jobs were created,” said Louis J. Coletti, president and chief executive of the Building Trades Employers’ Association. “The world of real estate and construction financing have been upended by the economic crisis.”