SARANAC LAKE — An official with the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) has been named to New York’s climate justice working group. 

Jerrod Bley, ANCA’s clean-energy program director, is one of three individuals from rural communities to be named to the panel. 

The group will help guide the implementation of New York’s new Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), ANCA said in an Aug. 5 news release. 

As part of New York’s efforts to address environmental justice and support disadvantaged communities throughout its clean-energy transition process, the New York Department of Conservation (NYSDEC) has announced 13 members of the working group, which includes nine community representatives. 

“I am honored and humbled to serve with this group of clean-energy experts and community leaders,” Bley said in the release. “I will do my best to represent the people who are touched by this complex and salient issue here in the North Country and throughout the state.”

Bley has worked in the energy industry for more than 15 years. He began his career with an engineering unit in the U.S. Marine Corps and gained experience installing solar photovoltaic (PV), solar thermal and small wind systems in Nebraska and Montana. 

Prior to joining ANCA in July 2019, Bley served as a program coordinator and environmental health and safety instructor. 

He credits much of his insight and appreciation for the challenges facing rural communities to his upbringing on a working farm in Ohio and his years working in the Montana Weatherization Assistance Program through Montana State University Extension, where he worked with low-to moderate-income and Indigenous communities. 

Bley says he envisions a future structured on “safe, reliable” clean-energy generation that “benefits all sectors and populations,” per the ANCA release.

“This opportunity comes at a pivotal time and place, where we can shape a clean energy future that addresses the most pressing issues of our day,” Bley said. “We are currently facing multiple crises that must be considered in restructuring the energy sector. The COVID pandemic, racial inequity and global climate disruption all come with challenges that disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities. I look forward to working with other group members and State leaders to implement clean energy initiatives centered on diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

The working group will support the CLCPA’s New York State Climate Action Council, which is co-chaired by NYSDEC Commissioner Basil Seggos and Doreen Harris, acting president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), in implementing goals set forth through the 2019 climate act. 

The CLCPA requires the state to establish a carbon-free electricity system by 2040 and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The new law will drive investment in clean-energy options such as wind, solar, energy efficiency, vehicle electrification, and energy storage, per ANCA.

ANCA says it is an independent nonprofit organization working to “build dynamic local economies that sustain thriving communities” in Northern New York. Since 1955, it has leveraged the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars into key sectors that drive sustainable local economic development.

WAMPSVILLE — The Madison County Department of Solid Waste has released a draft of the updated local solid-waste management plan (SWMP) that will focus on the next 10 years (from 2021 through 2030) of solid-waste disposal and recycling in Madison County. 

In the past, Madison County has prepared SWMPs to “evaluate and execute an environmentally sound and economically feasible” plan for handling solid waste generated within the county, per an Aug. 6 news release. 

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) requires local planning units to update and modify solid waste and recycling efforts prior to their expiration date. The current SWMP is set to expire at the end of 2020. 

Since the inception of the first plan in 1990, the county has “continued to meet the milestones” outlined in the plan and incorporate new components to expand recycling efforts and divert solid waste from going into the landfill. 

The new solid-waste management plan focuses on the continuation of the main landfill-disposal system, improvement of current recycling efforts for materials such as paper and containers through educational programming, and the handling of other items such as electronics and household hazardous waste through special programs. 

The county says it plans to expand on the past SWMP by concentrating on public education through targeted recycling campaigns, school presentations, and backyard composting workshops. 

The Madison County Solid Waste Department held a virtual public information meeting on Aug. 27 to briefly summarize the plan and accept public comments. 

Madison County residents and businesses are encouraged to review the plan and provide feedback. Public comments must be received by Sept. 20. 

After the public-comment period ends, the Solid Waste Department will finalize the draft plan and then submit it to the New York DEC for review.       

New York State agencies on Aug. 23 issued a report which documents how “innovative” energy efficiency and sustainability programs have “substantially reduced” energy use in state buildings, tripled the generation of solar energy over the past two years, and “significantly” curbed paper use. 

“Most significantly,” the 2018-19 Greening New York State Report also notes a 22.6 percent reduction in state agency energy use over the last decade — especially in large state buildings — through the New York Power Authority’s (NYPA) BuildSmart NY program. 

The energy reduction exceeded Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2012 goal for cutting energy use by 20 percent by 2020, per a news release from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). State agencies also cut paper use in half over the last 10 years and doubled the composting of organic waste over the last five years. 

Developed by the DEC, NYPA, Office of General Services (OGS), and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the report details progress on “key” green initiatives, many of which “save state resources or make operations more resilient, both crucial benefits during the state’s ongoing response to COVID-19 when it is imperative for agencies to work efficiently.”

In addition, the Cuomo administration launched the GreenNY Council, a multi-agency working group led by DEC, NYPA, OGS, and NYSERDA and charged it with helping agencies implement the state’s “lead-by-example” directives. 

The GreenNY Council will also serve as a resource to support the state’s strategy for reducing agency greenhouse-gas emissions. Council members have been working together for more than a year to leverage resources, create guidance, “harmonize reporting, and make it easier for agencies to meet the state’s ambitious climate and sustainability goals.”

Report specifics

The report finds efforts to reduce energy use and waste result in “significant savings.” Under NYPA’s BuildSmart NY program, large state facilities have reduced source energy use intensity by 14.4 percent since 2010. Through the implementation of 158 energy-efficiency projects committed to by the end of 2019, those facilities will decrease energy use 22 percent, “achieving the [governor’s] goal of reducing such use 20 percent by 2020.”

In 2019 alone, energy-efficiency improvements saved New York an estimated $65 million and reduced carbon-dioxide emissions by more than 290,000 tons relative to the baseline of 2010, the report found.

In addition, the report says copy paper purchasing decreased 60 percent over the last decade, saving the state $64.1 million since reporting began, and more than $8 million in 2019 alone; and, “cumulatively,” these actions accounted for more than $73 million in savings in fiscal year 2018-19, per the DEC.

The report also found “virtual elimination” of the purchase of bottled water by New York State executive agencies — 73 percent of authorities have also eliminated or restricted use to “special circumstances,” such as soldiers and emergency response personnel.

Also described as “achievements” are the purchase of 100 percent post-consumer recycled content, processed chlorine-free copy paper doubling from 22 to 48 percent, a recycling rate of 66 percent — compared to 50 percent first measured in 2008 — and a doubling the number of agencies composting organic waste since 2012.

The report also found the state’s green-purchasing program investing $114 million on green products, up $7 million from the previous year, and earning a national award for the purchase of sustainable electronics in both 2018 and 2019, which will save taxpayer dollars over the lifetime of the equipment.

The report also cites the generation of nearly 10 million kilowatt hours of solar energy for agency use, a 10 percent increase from the previous year and triple the amount generated in 2016.

The full report is available online on the state’s “GreenNY” website, along with more details about New York’s efforts to green state purchasing and operations.