Local community leaders and energy industry representatives are teaming up to advocate for sustainable energy in Central New York. In the lobby of the all-electric Whitlock building, they set out their goal: getting fossil fuels out of buildings in CNY.
“It’s going to cost us so much less to make these investments than it is to just continue to burn fossil fuels and contribute to catastrophic climate change,” Jessica Azulay said.
Azulay is the executive director of the Alliance for a Green Economy in New York. She said implementing the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act will generate millions of dollars in savings and hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The Climate Action Council held an in-person public hearing at the SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry campus to get public comments on their statewide scoping plans, designed to meet state energy goals.
While the council works to make these changes and inform people of the urgency of climate action, the move to energy efficiency is also being encouraged at a much smaller scale. Matt Dennis, the senior energy advisor at energy contractorHalco, said face-to-face connection is key.
“You can’t take a hundred people and try to convince them based on stuff they’ve heard or seen, but if you can have an honest, one-on-one conversation with somebody and just present the facts, and show them what is what and why things work the way they do, a lot of the times that makes sense to them,“ Dennis said.
Dennis has helped install heat pumps and solar panels for people in their own homes. However, the up-front costs of installing these systems are keeping many low-income residents out of the conversation. Joan Royal with Greater Syracuse Works said that’s where state help is needed.
“For them to be able to convert to better energy sources for their homes so they can be healthier, they’re going to need help with those costs. They’re not going to be able to sustain those costs,” Royal said.
Royal said since many low-income people don’t own their houses, working with their landlords will be important to helping them benefit from sustainable energy. But the question remains where to get one billion dollars per year needed to help people meet New York’s energy goals. If you ask Azulay, there’s a simple solution to come up with much of it.
“If we stop investing in the fossil fuel industry and move that money over into energy efficiency and electrification, that is one source of the funding,” Azulay said.
Some of that funding will be used to help residents and small businesses in disadvantaged areas. That’s something Azulay said is important since those are the people that have been impacted the most by burning fossil fuels - both in the wallet and at the doctor’s office.