New Castle partners with State environmental experts to combat climate change
February 15, 2008
by Susie Pender
New Castle became a statewide leader on important environmental issues when its town board unanimously passed a resolution to work to reduce greenhouse gasses and combat climate change in partnership with New York State.
“We need to adopt measures to help our community adapt to the changes we are seeing already and we need to enact policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” explained Supervisor Barbara Gerrard at the Feb. 12 town board meeting.
In response, Peter Grannis, commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, or DEC, announced, “We applaud the town of New Castle and Supervisor Barbara Gerrard for taking this important step toward local action to fight climate change and adapt to the unavoidable effects of global warming. New Castle is the first of what we hope will be many ‘Climate Smart Communities’ that continue to explore new and collaborative ways to address the challenges of climate change.”
Ten goals outlined in resolution
The ten measures in the resolution include a pledge to combat climate change by establishing a task force to review climate change issues and create a plan of action. A designated point person will oversee climate change initiatives and make a public progress report in 12 months. The town board also committed to gather data and investigate greenhouse gas emissions to establish baselines for New Castle. In addition, the town board embraced New York State’s stated goal to reduce the municipality’s electricity use by 15% by 2015. For the full text of the resolution, click here.
The benefits of partnering with the state
By partnering with the state, New Castle will have access to the Office of Climate Change’s technical staff of engineers, economists and researchers. Free of charge, these experts will assist New Castle in analyzing possible initiatives and also help the town explore potential new sources of funding to assist in the implementation of new measures the town commits to adopt. For example, “we are considering doing a carbon footprint analysis of New Castle,” explained Gerrard, “as well as increase our use of biofuel, specifically geothermal and solar. These initiatives will take time and money.”
Gerrard looks forward to all residents taking part in these initiatives. Sounding a rallying cry, she implored, “We have the political will to tackle global climate change. As the scientists remind us every day, there is not a moment to waste. Let’s take advantage of the state’s resources and let’s get to work.”
Commissioner Grannis added, “As New Castle and other forward-thinking municipalities commit to confront this threat to our health, environment and economy, DEC looks forward to assisting with advice, technical guidance, and other resources to help provide solutions that will make a positive impact.”
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