On March 6, a meeting was held in the New Paltz Village Hall to discuss the upcoming 2023 Greenhouse Gas Inventory. The meeting, which was open to the public, included members of the New Paltz Village Board, the New Paltz Town Board, Mayor Tim Rogers and the Climate Smart Community Task Force. Joseph Londa, a Climate Smart member, was the main speaker at the inventory, working with the board and Climate Smart members to summarize some of the necessary climate data that will be used in the inventory and to help detail a plan to further reduce the emissions coming from the village and town.
The Greenhouse Gas Inventory is one of the first and most important steps in allowing local municipalities to take meaningful climate action. The inventory is a gathering of all greenhouse gas emission data from the town and village communities, along with data on any emissions from governmental buildings and operations and data from state roads that run through the municipalities. The data is collected and compiled, then the amount of greenhouse gas emissions is calculated. This process allows for a local government to see the common sources of greenhouse gas emissions. According to Londa “The purpose of doing an inventory is to understand what the most significant contributing areas for greenhouse gas emissions are so that we can prioritize where we need to take action.”
The last inventory in 2017 concluded that there were 124,866 CO2-equivalent metric tons emitted from the town and village. According to Londa, “88% of all our greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation.” However, much of these emissions come through traffic and not local communities. “The Thruway was 52,745 CO2 equivalent metric tons,” he said, making it one of the largest contributors and a contributor that is outside of either local government’s ability to change. Other major contributors were residential and commercial energy use and landfills. Overall, Londa does not expect much to change from the 2017 inventory. However, that does not make these inventories useless. “Our expectations are not so much that emissions will go up or down, but more that our actions are attacking the problem.”
The inventory is a required action for communities who wish to be certified with Climate Smart, a New York State program that “helps local governments take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate.” Climate Smart certification offers a variety of benefits such as access to grants and funding for certain projects, rebates for electric vehicles, a framework on how to implement climate action and shows a local government’s commitment to pursuing New York State’s climate goals. Both the town and village of New Paltz are Bronze certified, an accomplishment that only 122 of the 403 registered communities achieved. The goals of the program are to simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve community health, increase energy security and save taxpayer dollars.
“To combat climate change from global warming we must all make a contribution. This means individuals, families, businesses, municipalities, institutions, states and countries,” said Londa. Greenhouse Gas Inventories require a lot of manpower and local volunteers will be needed to assist the inventory process. Information can be found on both the town and village websites.