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United States News Title: Clinton, Mayor Air Views Former President Bill Clinton and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday they will join forces to combat climate change, combining the two environmental organizations they lead. Mr. Clinton also beguiled reporters with a colorful account of his first visit to Times Square. The Clinton Climate Initiative has been working with the world's largest cities to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions that have been linked by many scientists to global warming. The group has been helping cities make energy-savings improvements to buildings, transit systems, lighting and waste management. The mayor is the current chairman of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a forum for major cities around the globe that are committed to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. By merging both groups' efforts, Mr. Clinton said, the alliance hopes to "hammer home" how it's possible to "change the way you consume and produce energy in cities in a way that is good economics." Mr. Clinton's group teamed up with the city of Los Angeles in 2009 to make the city's street lights more energy efficient. Officials hope to save $48 million over seven years by swapping out all 140,000 of the city's street lights and replacing them with LED lights. Mr. Bloomberg said, "President Clinton and I believe this new integrated structure will retain and enhance the strengths of each of its component parts, helping make this the preeminent climate action organization in the world. The two men said they will be speaking out together on climate change. They both plan to attend the biennial C40 Summit in Sao Paulo, Brazil, later this spring. The mayor on Wednesday also released the results of a study that showed improvements in air quality at Times Square following the controversial creation of a pedestrian plaza at the crossroads of the world. After Times Square's conversion to a pedestrian plaza in 2009, nitrogen oxide pollution levels fell 63% and nitrogen dioxide levels dropped 41%. Before the conversion, concentrations of both pollutants in Times Square were among the highest in the city. The closing of the streets to cars has also lowered the number of traffic fatalities, the mayor said. And beginning next month, the Times Square pedestrian plaza, along with parks, beaches and other pedestrian plazas citywide, will be smoke-free areas. The mayor and City Council approved legislation extending the smoking ban to these places earlier this year. At the news conference, Mr. Clinton remembered visiting Times Square at age 18 when he was a college freshman. "I bought a steak at Tad's Steakhouse, I heard a guy ream his mother out—poor working woman—because she gave him a Hi-Fi instead of a stereo speaker." "I remember everything about it," Mr. Clinton insisted. "I saw a hooker approach a man in a gray flannel suit. It's pretty heavy stuff for a guy from Arkansas.
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