Oct. 26, 2006

Saying that Westchester has a long history of effective grassroots advocacy on the environment, County Executive Andy Spano is forming a task force to produce a countywide action plan to reduce green house gas emissions and promote sustainable development in Westchester.

“The Climate Protection: Westchester Global Warming Task Force” includes representatives from municipalities, environmental organizations, businesses and schools. The formal announcement of the task force will be made Friday at the annual dinner of the Westchester Chapter of the New York State League of Conservation Voters. Spano will be the keynote speaker at the dinner, at Manhattanville College, Purchase, where two organizations (the Ossining Public Library and the Sheldrake Environmental  Center) will be honored for their commitment to the environment.
 
“Our community has a history of efforts to protect the environment,” said Spano. “We need to respond to the problems around us even though on a grand scale we cannot change the world. Collectively, however, we  can made a difference. We can show leadership. The threat of global warming is real. The scientific community tells us  that climate change is occurring, poses grave risks to public health and the natural world -- and as a nation we are not doing enough to prevent its serious consequences.”

He added,  “The entire Westchester community has done very important things, often on a voluntarily basis,  to decrease greenhouse gases, to recycle and to sustain our environment. These actions save money, raise awareness, improve property values and protect public health. But we need to do much more, and with greater
urgency because air pollution and toxic chemicals remain a threat to public health and our present way of life is not sustainable.”

“If every county in the country was committed to start taking steps we could collectively make a difference,” Spano said.

Marcia Bystryn, executive director of the New York League of Conservation Voters, praised the creation of the task force, saying,  “This task force is a huge step forward and an important first in the effort to ensure a cleaner, safer, and more sustainable environment in Westchester for years to come. Spano’s environmental leadership represents the kind of take-charge planning that is needed to reduce dangerous threats to the health and safety of our communities.”

ABOUT THE TASK FORCE

The task force will be made up of representatives from government, business, schools and colleges and the environmental community so that each sector can address both short-term and long-term actions specific to their area.

The task force will be chaired by North Castle Supervisor Reese Berman. It will be co-chaired by Robert Funicello, environmental project director of Westchester County. Other members of this high-level group will include a member of the county Board of Legislators. From the business community, there will be individuals from county businesses and businesses associations, international corporations with offices in the county and  an international business council focusing on sustainable energy. From the education community, the task force will include county teachers, college presidents, law school professors and others. And from the environmental community, there will be representatives from national and local groups.

Spano said the task force will be asked to do the following:.

• Update a 2001 inventory of total greenhouse gas produced in Westchester.
• Recommend a greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal over the next decade and a strategy to achieve the goal.
• Identify possible actions to achieve the goal specific to each sector as well as to individual households
• Recommend a sustainable development program for Westchester to reduce energy and water consumption, improve air and water quality, reduce solid waste and the use of toxic materials and promote land use compatible with these priorities.
• Develop a plan to monitor progress.
• Assist all sectors with their changes.

“Actions that the county and others have taken in the last five year to reduce air pollution and increase recycling  have reduced to some extent green house gas emissions in the county. Also, the techniques available to estimate greenhouse gas emissions have been improved. Thus, the first step will be to re-inventory green house gas emissions for Westchester County.  I hope the Task Force can be organized and complete this first step by March 1, 2007,” Spano said.

ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND WESTCHESTER 

In 2001 the county working with the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, a program of The International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) - Local Governments for Sustainability, inventoried the county’s greenhouse gas emissions, using CO2, the principal green house gas, and produced a Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Forecast Report both for county government operations and facilities and for the county as a whole.

It is estimated that the county as a whole  produced almost 12 millions tons of carbon dioxide in 1999. The transportation sector accounted for about 51 percent of this. Residential household energy use  accounted for about 30 percent. The commercial sector accounted for about 19 percent. The report indicated that based upon the county population in 1999, the tons per capita of CO2 produced in the county in that year was 13.1 tons per person.

“This is an enormous amount,” said Spano. “While it is lower than estimates for some of other New York counties in the same period, it is higher than the state average of the time of 11.8 tons. And even that state average is way too high.”  

In Westchester the impacts of climate change could be very severe. A federal report (The Potential Impacts of Global Warming on the Mid-Atlantic Region, 2000, view it on line at  http://www.climatehotmap.org/impacts/midatlantic.html.)  sought to evaluate the possible effects.

It concluded that the mid-Atlantic region with its extensive coastline is likely to suffer from the impacts of increased flooding and sea-level rise expected under different climate change scenarios. Extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, floods, heat waves and drought are likely to become more frequent.  Changes in temperature and rainfall could contribute to summer heat stress, smog and other health risks and take a toll on the forests, including our magnificent parks and on migratory bird habitats.

On Dec. 4, the state Department of Environmental  Conservation will hold a one-day conference, co-sponsored by Westchester County,  for local decision-makers to explore the issues surrounding climate change in the Hudson Valley.

WHAT THE COUNTY HAS DONE

Improved energy efficiency in county facilities: High-efficiency lighting in all buildings, motion sensors for lights, highest energy efficiency ratio for all new equipment, retrofitted County buildings with high efficiency windows, boiler replacements with high efficiency boilers, energy efficiencies in the wastewater treatment plans, preferential purchasing plan for energy-efficient products to the extent feasible under all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

Promoted energy efficiency in IDA-funded development: The Industrial Development Agency advocates the use of “green building” technologies and practices and requires each applicant to describe how these technologies will be incorporated into the project construction/renovations; IDA also requires compliance with energy efficient standards (ENERGY STAR) in equipment and lighting.

Increased recycling: The county has met or exceeded the state’s recycling goal of 40 percent for solid waste for nine consecutive years and has increased recycling of organic yard waste, used tires and household hazardous waste.

Improved transportation options: Since 1998, the county has modernized its bus fleet, reconfiguring bus routes to better connect to rail and to better serve the needs of senior citizens, instituted programs to encourage shared riding for employees.

Reduced water pollution: Since 1998, through the Department of Planning and the county’s Soil and Water Conservation District streams and wetlands have been restored to improve  water quality and natural Also, storm water management practices have been installed or upgraded to improve water quality. The county has made changes to its sanitary code (enforced by the Department of Health) to protect the environment and  keep water clean. Sewage pumping stations (county and local) are required to file annual reports documenting operations. In addition, the departments of Public Works and Environmental Facilities completed a four- year $30 million program in 2003 to remove inflow and infiltration in municipal sanitary sewers and reduce sanitary sewer overflows. These departments are now completing a plan to upgrade the four Long Island Sound Wastewater Treatment Plants to remove nitrogen from the Sound. The Westchester County Airport implemented an airport wide groundwater monitoring program to protect drinking water as part of the Airport wide Environmental Management System which was independently certified to the ISO 14001 Standard in 2004. 

Reduced the use of pesticides and toxic cleaning products by governments:  Since 2000 the use of pesticides by the county has been phased out. The county has  encouraged local governments to do the same. A recent Executive Order requires all county facilities to use non toxic green cleaning products where possible. 

Preserved open space: The Spano administration has added about 1975 acres of open space to County open space since 1998. The 180- acre Hilltop Hanover Farm was purchased in 2003 to preserve open space and to protect drinking water. The farm's Environmental Resource Center will focus on educating professionals, land-owners and the general public. Best management practices for agriculture and land use will be demonstrated. Information about non-toxic, organic and sustainable residential landscaping practices and suburban agriculture will be promoted.

Reduced air pollution:  The county has reduced the emissions from its bus fleet, requiring the buses operate using ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel and is retrofitting its buses with filters to further reduce emissions of air pollutants. The county recently bought hybrid vehicles and is monitoring  their performance to see if additional vehicles should be purchased. The county has bought and will continue to buy hybrid vehicles for its motor fleet and will assist local governments and school districts with reducing its emissions from motor vehicle fleet.  The county Board of Legislators has mandated that all county diesel vehicles and county contractor diesel vehicles use ultra low sulfur diesel fuel and be equipped with filters to further reduce air pollutants. This month the county entered into a “Statement of Intent” with other suburban counties, New York City and the state Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to work together to further to  reduce emissions from engines and vehicles that operate in their jurisdictions, with a focus on diesel emissions.

WHAT OTHERS HAVE DONE

• In 2004, the Beczak Environmental Education Center on the Hudson River in Yonkers, with the help of the state, county and the City of Yonkers, opened a  3,800-square-foot riverfront interpretive center. With a sandy beach and its own tidal marsh just steps away from the building, Beczak provides the community with an indoor and outdoor classroom where young and old alike can “touch the river” and learn about the natural world.
  
• The Pace Law School Energy Project, highly regarded throughout the world in the fields of energy conservation, alternative energy sources, and sustainable energy, is working with the Town of Greenburgh in its "Greening Greenburgh Campaign.” This is a model program to develop and implement an aggressive geographically targeted energy efficiency and conservation initiative, which includes an effort to educate local residents, businesses and institutions about cost-effective opportunities to save energy. The Town has also passed landmark legislation requiring that all new residential construction less than four stories high in the town meet strict Energy Star® standards.
  
• This summer,  Morgan Stanley announced it has retrofitted its new offices in Purchase with the New York metropolitan area’s largest ice storage energy efficient air conditioning system. It is estimated that the system will reduce peak energy usage and reduce overall electrical usage by 900,000 kWh and reduce the site’s overall fuel consumption by 15,000 MMBtu. It is said this would be equivalent to planting 1.5 million  trees to absorb the carbon dioxide emissions avoided during one year  or removing 271 automobiles from county roads. (The county uses this system at two of its White Plains office buildings.)
  
• The Katonah-Lewisboro School District will retrofit 100 percent of its 54-vehicle school bus fleet with diesel particulate filters and will purchase two new large school buses also equipped with diesel particulate filters. The implementation of this retrofit program will help the school district reduce the air pollution from its buses by 85 percent and thus significantly reduce the harmful health effects of the school bus emissions.

Said Spano, “The National Academy of Sciences tells us there is an overwhelming  consensus among scientists that climate change is now underway. The only question is how severe the impact will be. As the  Academy says, if we delay  ‘the risks and costs of the adverse effects of climate change could increase significantly.’ We dare not take the chance that the scientific community is wrong.  We will take advantage of existing technology and resources to further reduce air pollution, save money, improve energy security, and improve the quality of life in Westchester. It is smart to act and it is foolish not to act. In Westchester we want to do our share.”