As we focus here on the 2024 environmental goals for the Central and Western parts of New York State, one thing is clear: the region has tremendous, untapped potential in helping the state meet its overall goals for fighting climate change.
The area encompasses Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and the Great Lakes region and has a population of a little more than 3.5 million people, about 18 percent of the state’s population.
Like elsewhere in the state, our overall environmental goals for the region are to drastically increase reliance on renewable energy, decarbonize buildings, clean up toxic waste, work to provide safe drinking water for all residents and reduce waste going to landfills.
Let’s drill down.
Downstate has the Atlantic ocean. The Western Region has the Great Lakes. One of our chief priorities for the region in 2024 is to tap into the vast offshore-wind potential for the lakes. The wind generated across these lakes accounts for a whopping 20 percent of the nation’s offshore wind potential. This is highly significant. If harnessed efficiently and timely, this wind energy could help the state meet its goal of reaching 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040.
Educating the public and local officials about all our goals for the region is key. This means eliminating or reducing bureaucratic hurdles to essential projects and making sure officials and the public understand why these changes are needed.
To start, we must advocate with elected officials and citizens about the importance of all renewable energy projects – solar, water and wind – and how to store the energy generated from renewable sources and how to properly site these projects, so that we strike a balance between our energy goals and protecting natural resources.
We need to work closely with community leaders to make sure they tap into the Climate Smart Community Program. This is a NYSDEC program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by rewarding greenhouse gas reducing actions like transitioning to clean automobile fleets, adopting NY Stretch Energy Codes, training governmental staff on Energy Code Enforcement, converting street lights to LED, and implementing Unified Solar Permitting. Becoming a DEC-certified Climate Smart Community shows the commitment of the community to a clean environmentally friendly future.
As we have written many times, the building sector is one of the leading contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the state, accounting for almost one-third of all emissions. So as in all parts of New York, in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and throughout the region, we need to work hard to decarbonize buildings. We want to decarbonize all state-owned buildings, including all SUNY campuses, by replacing dated heating and cooling systems with thermal energy networks.
We urge local governments to adopt incentives for homeowners to shift to renewable energy sources.
While the state’s flood-control efforts have often highlighted Downstate because of the Atlantic, the Great Lakes region also has its own significant flooding problem that must be addressed.
In 2017 and 2019, Lake Ontario reached disastrous high levels, flooding communities from Niagara to Jefferson County. This flooding is a byproduct of climate change. The warmer weather has caused increased precipitation, which led to the flooding, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. These dangers will increase over time unless greater efforts are taken to protect and restore the area. This means leveraging state and federal funds to invest in more green infrastructure to protect these communities against future flooding.
Providing clean water for all residents is a goal throughout the state, and no less so in Central and Western New York.
The region has a history of early industrialization that allowed communities to grow and flourish on the many waterways in the region. But as industry has declined, the region was left with the impacts of more than one hundred years of pollution and lack of investment in modernizing water infrastructure.
We want to work with all communities in the region to make sure counties and municipalities comply with new testing requirements for drinking water and limits for known hazards, like lead and other emerging contaminants. These areas need to invest in wastewater and drinking water infrastructure through programs such as the state’s Clean Water Infrastructure Act so communities receive state funding earmarked for such projects.
We urge communities along the Great Lakes and the Finger Lakes to seek federal and state funding to clean up pollution in and along these waterways.
Reducing waste going to landfills is another goal we must tackle. Waste is the fourth-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the state, with six million tons of waste sent to landfills each year in the state. All communities throughout the region need to prioritize and expand regional recycling facilities, anaerobic digesters, compost sites and other technologies that can process waste with a lesser impact on the environment.
Finally, we urge all communities in the region to create more accessible and walkable towns and cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, which, like buildings, accounts for approximately one-third of the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions. This includes expanding public transportation in large cities and adding more routes into the suburbs and the more rural areas.
Our 2024 Central and Western New York Agenda is available here.
Peter Aronson, a volunteer writer at the New York League of Conservation Voters since September 2022, is a former journalist and retired attorney. He is the author of Mandalay Hawk’s Dilemma: The United States of Anthropocene, a novel for middle-grade readers about kids fighting global warming. Kirkus Reviews, in a starred review, wrote: “A scathing work and an essential blueprint for youth battling climate change.” To read more about Peter, visit his website www.peteraronsonbooks.com or to purchase his book, click here.