By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
On Sept. 24, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recognized the Village of Cazenovia as one of 55 Bronze Certified “Climate Smart Communities.”
The NYSDEC live-streamed the announcement from Saranac Lake in partnership with the Wild Center.
The announcement was timed with Climate Week NYC 2020, a summit that brought together international leaders from business, government, and civil society to showcase global climate action and discuss how to do more.
The DEC’s Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Program represents a partnership between state and local governments with the goal of helping communities take steps to increase energy efficiency, reduce GHG emissions, save taxpayers money and promote renewable energy and a green economy.
Major steps in the program include:
- Adopting the CSC pledge to build a resilient, low-emission future
- Creating a community greenhouse gas inventory
- Developing a plan to reduce emissions (Climate Action Plan)
- Carrying out sustainable development projects
The Town of Cazenovia became a registered CSC on April 12, 2009; the village followed suit on April 1, 2014.
Registered communities are eligible to gain support and funding for additional sustainable development projects through the CSC Certification Program — an initiative that acknowledges New York’s foremost leaders in local climate action through a rating system leading to three certification levels: bronze, silver and gold. Communities can earn points toward certification through the completion of various actions related to climate change.
“We now have a total of 251 communities in New York State that have taken at least the pledge to become ‘climate smart,’” said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos, who made the certification announcements. “The next step above just taking the pledge is becoming a Certified Climate Smart Community. That means you are . . . actually demonstrating results. That’s where the rubber meets the road.”
The village achieved its bronze certification with 166 approved points earned from 21 completed actions.
“This is a big certification for us,” said Village of Cazenovia Trustee and CSC Coordinator David Porter. “There are only 13 communities that got it this year, and our point count is pretty good compared to a lot of the other bronze certified communities . . . The steps that the village undertook include a variety of measures, including an energy audit of village buildings, upgrading building heating and ventilating equipment, installing electric vehicle charging stations, and installing LED street lighting. We are hopeful that in the coming years we will be able to achieve the next level of certification – silver.”
According to Porter, the work that earned the village points was completed over the past four to five years with assistance from the Village of Cazenovia CSC Task Force, village staff, elected officials, local organizations and community members.
The task force includes Porter, Village Public Works Administrator Bill Carr, United Climate Action Network (U-CAN) steering committee member Geoffrey Navias, and Cazenovia Area Community Development Association (CACDA) Executive Director Lauren Lines.
“Fortunately, village officials and local organizations have been forward thinking for a long time and achieving bronze level was mostly a matter of documenting actions and initiatives that were already in place,” said Lines. “Over the years, and often with funding secured by CACDA, the village has implemented projects that make sense from both an environmental and financial perspective. We appreciate the recognition of these achievements from New York State and believe this certification will lead to future opportunities.”
The Town of Cazenovia received its bronze certification March 12, 2020 with 136 approved points earned from 15 completed actions.
To view the full Climate Smart Communities Certification Reports for the village and town, visit climatesmart.ny.gov.
