Nyack is calling on the community to help create the Nyack 2030 Climate Action Plan, starting with a kickoff event on March 22 at Nyack Center. Spaces to join the event have filled up, but this is just the kickoff, so there will be plenty more climate action to come.
The Village recognizes its important role in helping the community prepare for the threats of climate change and reduce our contributions to the problem. Many residents want to lower their emissions and would like help by learning about high impact strategies and emerging programs and funding.
The Nyack 2030 Climate Action Plan will lay out how the Village government will reduce emissions in its operations and help households, businesses and organizations plan similar actions in their own settings.
As a small village, Nyack already punches above its weight on climate action.
In 2019 the village became the first Rockland community to achieve Bronze level certification in New York’s Climate Smart Communities Program and a designated NYSERDA Clean Energy Community. The Village has replaced its streetlights with LEDs, purchased 100 percent renewable electricity, and adopted Community Choice Aggregation and the NY Stretch Energy Code to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It has instituted programs and policies to protect and enhance the local landscape.
The kickoff workshop is intended for local stakeholders, including residents, businesses and commercial property owners, civic groups and houses of worship, emergency workers, building and landscape contractors, Village staff and officials and others. Participants will learn about the project and share ideas about the broad range of topics the plan will address – renewable energy, electrification, transportation, materials management, natural resources, and adaptation.
In April and May, the Nyack 2030 Steering Committee will organize a team of working groups for each focus area. Using greenhouse gas inventories and a software tool called ClearPath, the groups will establish ambitious, achievable goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from Nyack’s buildings, vehicles, and waste by 2030.
Significant federal and state funding and technical support is becoming available for clean energy vehicles and building upgrades, workforce development, infrastructure and other projects. The plan will map out ways to stay informed and take advantage of these opportunities.
In addition to emissions reductions, the plan will also lay out how to better protect natural resources and prepare and adapt to local climate impacts – extreme heat, storms and flooding, and storm surge. A vulnerability assessment will lay the groundwork for an adaptation plan.
A website for the planning process is now accessible to the public, and the draft plan will be available on the site as it develops throughout the process. The final plan will also be web-based and updated regularly as the community checks off completed actions and a new inventory demonstrates the progress along the way to the 2030 goals.
The project has been funded in part by the Climate Smart Community Grant Program, Title 15 of the Environmental Protection Fund through the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.
NYACK 2030 PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE
- Andy Stewart – Nyack Village Administrator
- Marcy Denker – Nyack 2030 Project Coordinator, Nyack Climate Smart Committee Co-chair, landscape designer/consultant
- Steve Cea – Nyack Climate Smart Committee Co-chair, Nyack Library board member, retired school business administrator
- Ashley Dawson – Social justice advocate in Rockland, outreach coordinator at Pilgrim Baptist Church
- Andrew Goodwillie – Former Village of South Nyack trustee, geophysicist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University
- Tony Lisanti – High-performance building specialist and energy rater
- Liz McGrory – Global public health consultant
- Thomas Schneck – Chair, Visit Nyack, retired software specialist.
Nyack 2030 Climate Action Plan Workshop
March 22, 2023, 7-9 PM
Nyack Center
58 Depew Ave, Nyack, NY 10960
For more information, contact: nyackclimatesmart@gmail.com
