The town of Manlius is now a Climate Smart Community, following a unanimous vote of the town board to adopt the New York State Climate Smart Communities Pledge.
The vote took place at the board’s meeting April 22, which coincidentally took place on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Town Councilor Katelyn Kriesel said she believes the town is the 300th municipality in the state to adopt the pledge.
The pledge is a non-binding statement that indicates the board believes in the concept of man-made climate change and is willing to take steps to reduce the town’s impact on climate.
There are 10 elements of the pledge:
* Build a climate-smart community
* Inventory emissions, set goals, and plan for climate action
* Decrease energy use
* Shift to clean, renewable energy
* Use climate-smart materials management
* Implement climate-smart land use
* Enhance community resilience to climate change
* Support a green innovation economy
* Inform and inspire the public
* Engage in an evolving process of climate action
Town Councilor Heather Waters said that while some people are motivated by climate action, others will see the benefits in cost savings and efficiencies.
“It gets us literally on the same page,” she said. “The state will reward, in terms of grant support, municipalities that get ahead of this.”
“By taking the pledge, we are taking the very first step to becoming a leader in our community in fighting climate change,” Kriesel said.
