CAZENOVIA — On Nov. 13, the United Climate Action Network (UCAN) presented the fourth regional Climate Action Leadership Summit at the Cazenovia Public Library.

UCAN is a grassroots organization that advocates environmentally sustainable policies and actions in New York’s 22nd Congressional District. The group also engages with businesses, schools and other local community organizations to advance environmental literacy and sustainable practices.

The summit brought together a diverse group of community leaders — ranging from public servants, farmers and educators to financial planners, industry experts and a representative of the Oneida Indian Nation — to discuss the regional impacts of climate change, learn about local accomplishments, network, and develop goals for 2022.

Organized by Summit Steering Committee members Phil Rose, Mary Bartlett, Nancy Paolozzi, Jack Stevens, Laurie Feine-Dudley, and Geoffrey Navias, the event began with remarks by Philip Hofmeyer, Ph.D., who presented on the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) and its implementation across the state.

CLCPA implementation

Hofmeyer is chair of the SUNY Morrisville Division of Environmental & Renewable Resources, an associate professor of renewable energy, and an instructor for the Renewable Energy Training Center. He is also a certified solar photovoltaic (PV) inspector through the North American Board of Certified Energy Inspectors.

Enacted in 2019, the CLCPA is a comprehensive response to climate change that puts New York State on a path to achieve an 85 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050; 100 percent zero-emission electricity by 2040; 70 percent renewable energy by 2030; 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035; 3,000 MW of energy storage by 2030; 6,000 MW of solar by 2025; and a 22-million-ton carbon reduction through energy efficiency and electrification.

“Since this was passed, I would say I get ten calls a week, maybe more, from different communities saying, ‘No. Not here. No way is this happening,’” said Hofmeyer. “These are the same jurisdictions that were in favor of this. . . It’s a wonderful case of people [not understanding] what they were asking for. I think it’s important for us to take a step back and remind ourselves what we are actually asking for. [We’re talking about] greenhouse gas emissions. This is serious stuff. This requires an enormous change in the way we view life. So how do we implement something like this?”

Hofmeyer noted that to reduce its GHG emissions, the state is incentivizing electric vehicles in the transportation sector and electricity-based heating and cooling systems in the residential sector.

Currently, New York State produces electricity primarily through natural gas, renewable energy, and its largest source, nuclear power.

According to Hofmeyer, the increasing demand for electricity puts stress on the state’s nuclear and hydro infrastructure, which is some of the oldest in the country.

Hofmeyer added that because the state has no plans to retrofit the existing infrastructure, and because no one is willing to take the political risk of planning for new nuclear facilities, he predicts that the amount of electricity available from nuclear sources will drop.

“We are getting a higher electricity footprint with our largest electricity resource rolling off the payroll, so to speak,” he said. “That’s problematic. So that brings us to natural gas and renewable energy. If our goal is to get to a reduction in greenhouse gases, natural gas is a bridge fuel. It is abundant in New York State, and it will bridge us for the next 15 to 20 years, but that doesn’t mean it’s our fallback plan. It’s a way that we can accelerate what has to happen, which is renewable energy. There is no way around it. . . Our energy generation is going down while our request for electricity, because it is clean, is going up. So, we have divergent curves here. When you have divergent curves, you must close that gap somehow. That’s where renewables come in.”

Hofmeyer went on to explain that if the state is going to meet its CLCPA targets, rural areas, like the Town of Fenner, will continue to receive pressure for energy system development (e.g., renewable energy infrastructure, energy storage, etc.).

He concluded his presentation by stressing that communities with stronger advanced planning have a much better chance of reducing unwanted impacts of development, while also supporting clean energy and the CLCPA goals.

“If a planning board knows what a developer is looking for and there’s some discussion of what the character of the community is, and you overlap those two, it makes it much easier for all of these projects to go forward,” he said. “. . . [We can’t] tuck our head in the sand and say, ‘Not here.’ That’s not going to fly with the state, because that argument is being replicated over and over by every single community. . . Part of our job here is to start planning.”

Following Hofmeyer’s remarks, the leaders of UCAN’s seven task forces reported on their accomplishments over the past year.

Advocacy

Rose, who led the advocacy task force, dedicated his report to highlighting a variety of local and state-wide environmental initiatives.

He first listed the Town of Cazenovia’s recent efforts, including the successful treatment of Cazenovia Lake for Eurasian watermilfoil last spring, the purchase of a solar-powered weather station to be installed at the highway garage, the approval of a 5-megawatt commercial solar installation in New Woodstock, and the municipality’s ongoing work to develop comprehensive regulations and guidelines for commercial solar projects.

Rose also commended the Village of Cazenovia for having its lowest annual water usage since 1987 last year, for approving a sanitary sewer system evaluation, and for decreasing its electric usage as a result of its LED Streetlight Conversion Project.

Additionally, he discussed the environmental efforts of the Town of Nelson — such as the installation of LED lighting in the town hall, the highway garage, and the street lighting districts — and the Town of Fenner, where the town board passed a local law regulating small and large-scale commercial solar projects and the town planning committee heard a proposal for two large wind turbines.

Rose concluded his report by mentioning some accomplishments at the state level, including the passage of the Environmental Rights amendment, an addition to the Bill of Rights of the New York State Constitution that states, “Each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.”

Agriculture

Roger Saltman, spokesman for the agriculture task force, focused his report on the group’s efforts to develop a soil carbon sequestration kit for use across Madison County.

Saltman described soil carbon sequestration as a process by which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored in the soil carbon pool. The process is primarily mediated by plants through photosynthesis, with carbon stored in the form of soil organic carbon.

According to Saltman, the task force’s on-site test kits examine the following indicators of soil health: topsoil depth, soil aggregates, soil hardness, earthwork count, water infiltration, and soil surface biology.

“If you want to measure the carbon in your soil, this kit can be borrowed,” Saltman said. “It’s sitting in the [Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County] Office. . . There is a methodology, and we could either help you to do [it] or there is a [form] that nicely walks you through the process. . . I think we have barely scratched the surface of [all the potential] opportunities, but now we have a system and the tools in place to carry on with this project next year.”

The agriculture task force is currently seeking additional volunteers. Contact Saltman at [email protected] for more information.

Recycling

Cazenovia Town Councilor Kyle Reger reported that since its establishment, the recycling task force has handed out hundreds of reusable shopping bags, talked to local restaurant owners about offering straws only upon request, provided better signage at transfer stations and schools regarding what items can be recycled, added information on recycling to the UCAN website, and created and displayed information on recycling pizza boxes.

Additionally, the group’s student members have been working to educate their peers on recycling.

The task force has also been working to develop a list of goals.

According to Reger, the members plan to continue to organize trash clean-ups. The next clean-up event is scheduled for Nov. 20 at 10 a.m.

The group also aims to launch the following initiatives: to begin auditing the community’s litter to determine the areas of greatest concern, to organize an Open Municipal Day with tours of the county waste facilities, to develop a list of creative ways to re-purpose garbage, to produce an information sheet on items made of recycled materials, to educate the public on the environmental impact of certain types of packaging, and to develop new plant-based packaging material in partnership with regional manufacturers.

Renewable energy

Village of Cazenovia Trustee and Sustainability Coordinator Dave Porter explained that over the past year, the renewable energy task force has focused primarily on providing guidance to homeowners interested in installing residential solar PV systems.

As a result of the group’s work, a variety of resources on residential solar — including information on local code requirements and permitting, descriptions of basic residential solar PV system components, links to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority guidelines, and information on solar PV contractors — is now available on the UCAN website.

According to Porter, the task force is now shifting its focus from residential-scale installations to community-scale solar projects.

“We met three weeks ago, and we were trying to come up with a direction that would have a greater impact, because residential solar serves just one household,” Porter said. “. . . We would like to assist local government planning boards in their process of formulating their own individual guidelines for solar PV installations. That would include zoning and setback requirements and using GIS [(geographic information system)] mapping to delineate acceptable locations for solar arrays. [We would also] look for ways to assist with preparing local land use ordinances related to solar PV.”

The renewable energy task force is in search of new members. To get involved, email [email protected].

Trees

Feine-Dudley, who reported on the tree task force, highlighted the completion of the 220 Tree Project, a two-year collaborative effort through which a total of 266 saplings were planted at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park (SQHAP).

“We did our original order before we actually had a place to plant,” Feine-Dudley said. “Luckily, Geoff Navias helped us find a place at the Art Park, and then Matt Potteiger and his SUNY ESF landscape architecture class presented several designs to the Art Park. Ultimately, [SQHAP CEO] Emily Zaengle and her staff picked the final design.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, SQHAP visitation was restricted. As a result, the project’s team of volunteers was unable to help plant the trees.

In late spring 2020, SQHAP Landscape Manager Eric Jerabek, Feine-Dudley and her husband, Kevin Dudley, planted the saplings on their own.

Once visitors were allowed into the park again, Project CAFÉ students and other volunteers started helping to care for the young trees.

“We had a bunch of people who came and mulched,” said Feine-Dudley. “We also had a group of volunteers that watered over the summer, and we found out that watering is a very difficult thing to do, because it is [done] over a very large space.”

In April 2021, in celebration of Earth Day, additional trees were planted to complete the ESF students’ design. Additionally, any trees that were damaged during the winter were replaced.

Fifty volunteers, including individuals from Cazenovia College, UCAN and other local groups, planted the trees in less than two hours.

After the planting, several people helped care for the trees. For example, local farmer, town councilor and UCAN member Jimmy Golub helped build a watering wagon, and Cazenovia College Associate Lecturer Chad Jaconski’s biology class mulched the planted area.

Earlier this fall, Feine-Dudley and Julie Poplaski replaced eight of the trees, which had not survived.

The completed installation can be seen in the lower field of the SQHAP exit drive.

Feine-Dudley noted that the trees will require ongoing maintenance in the form of watering and perhaps pruning. The tree tubes will likely be removed in about two years, after which watering will no longer be necessary.

“What we would like is to have a QR code, so people can go and hold up their phones and get all sorts of information about the tree project — about the design, the types of trees we planted, carbon sequestration, and climate change,” Feine-Dudley said. “That hasn’t happened yet. That is to be done by the Art Park. They are probably going to be the final arbiters of that.”

Water

Anne Saltman, who has a background in environmental planning, introduced the water task force by explaining that its focus is on all aspects of water resources, including watershed land use, stormwater runoff, groundwater contamination, precipitation rates, and storm events that may contribute to flooding.

She then introduced the group’s recently launched volunteer-based water quality monitoring program.

“[It] involves participation from a variety of different organizations, including the college, the high school, the Izaak Walton League, homeowners, the boy scouts, and the Cazenovia Lake Association,” Anne said. “The task force provides the [supplies] and training, and the volunteers go out and do the on-site testing.”

According to Anne, the program offers two options for water quality testing in area streams and drainage waterways.

The first option involves volunteers conducting chloride testing on intermittent streams or drainage ditches on or near their properties during/after snowmelt or heavy rain events. This type of testing will provide information on if/how road salt is impacting local streams, ponds, lakes, and ground water.

The second monitoring option involves more detailed protocols that are primarily conducted on streams with continuous, year-round water flow. Volunteers are asked to test for water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, phosphates, and nitrates four times a year.

Anne also highlighted the group’s documentation of local, long-term climate trends.

“We are taking a look at a variety of things, such as air temperature, water temperature in Cazenovia Lake, precipitation and snowfall, periods of drought, and storm frequency,” she said. “. . . We are very grateful for the Town of Cazenovia; they recently purchased a weather station that is going to be installed at the highway garage. This will allow us to continue to monitor many of these parameters in the months and years to come.”

Anne concluded her report by mentioning that her task force is conducting a culvert inventory, a project that involves checking for erosion at the outflow of culverts around the lake.

“This is important because [erosion] can prevent the migratory pathway of certain aquatic organisms,” she said.

The water task force meetings are open to anyone interested in water resources. To get involved, email [email protected].

Youth

Cazenovia High School seniors Hannora Race and Emma Steinberg delivered their presentation in a video format.

According to the task force leaders, the group’s objectives include educating students, teachers, janitors, and faculty members on the school’s recycling system; debunking misconceptions that deter people from recycling; providing resources to help people understand both the importance of recycling and the detrimental environmental implications of a lack of action; and redesigning the school’s recycling system by increasing the number of receptacles and working with the student body to enforce the separation of trash and recyclables.

The students reported that one of the youth task force’s focuses this year is on the launch of a new student volunteer program.

Race and Steinberg explained that students will work in pairs to monitor the recycling bins each class period. At the beginning of the period, they will check the receptacles. At the end of the period, they will remind the class to recycle, and they will re-check the bins to make sure the items are separated correctly.

According to Race, teachers and monitors will sign off for community service time if the students’ performance is deemed acceptable.

The youth task force is also spearheading an effort to obtain large recycling bins for the cafeteria.

“As students, we often feel powerless, without great political influence, and [we] often only ever create temporary change.,” said Steinberg. “However, with the support of UCAN, we have had the power to yield persisting change, to meet our goals, both in our school and community.”

Breakout sessions and wrap-up

The seven presentations were followed by small group “breakout” discussions, during which the task forces were able to brainstorm potential climate action projects for 2022.

Following the 45-minute work session, each group reported on its proposed initiatives.

According to Rose, the UCAN Steering Committee will be producing a summit report in the coming weeks to document each group’s proposed climate action projects/objectives.

The summit concluded with closing remarks by Ron Patterson (Wolf Clan), manager of the Oneida Heritage Center, who discussed the importance of viewing the present as “a time for action.”

UCAN organized its first climate summit in March 2019 to develop a strategic five-year plan. The event brought together 42 knowledgeable stakeholders and leaders to help identify the area’s most critical environmental issues. A follow-up summit was held three months later to celebrate the group’s accomplishments, evaluate its plans, and develop strategic working groups. A third summit was held via Zoom on Nov. 14, 2020.

To learn more about UCAN and get involved, visit unitedclimateaction.org or the United Climate Action Network Facebook page.