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Working with your Municipality

The municipality has significant emissions, and can manage local regulations, selection of utility power and influence and educate residents

Volunteer to help your town.

Yorktown Climate Smart Communities Task Force:

Michael Beakes, Bob DeAngelis, Paul Moskowitz, Sarah Wilson – from Y100 (plus two other strong members)

We achieved Bronze Certification (circa 2022)

Currently working on:

Solar regulations – focus on large scale ground-mounted systems
Municipal rooftop solar – on all municipal buildings
Silver certification
…Perhaps CCA

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Agenda

A little background on climate change

How current town activities contribute to climate change and what the Town and residents can do to minimize the impact

Ways we can reduce emissions and save money

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Courtesy The Climate Reality Project

The Greenhouse Gas Effect

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https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/planets-temperature-rising

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Snow and Ice Coverage – Columbia Glacier, Alaska

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/ColumbiaGlacier

1989

2024

Ice and Snow

Water

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Sea Level Rise

https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-sea-level

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All but one of the 16 hottest years in NASA’s 134-year record have occurred since 2000.

History of average global

carbon dioxide level

Deg C

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CO₂ (ppm)

Average global temperature

2 ^oF of warming

All but one of the 20 hottest years in NASA’s 134-year record have occurred since 2000. The last 7 (2017-2023) were the hottest.

Average Air Temperature in Recent Times

2.0

1.0

0.0

-1.0

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https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/state-summary/NY

Local Severe Weather Events & Costs are Increasing

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Local Severe Weather Events & Costs are Increasing

Flooded Route 202 in Yorktown, N.Y. on July 10, 2023 after torrential storms Sunday evening led to flash flooding and

at least one fatality in New York's Hudson Valley.

July 10, 2023, Supervisor Tom Diana declared a state of emergency in response to significant damage from a storm that dumped more than 6 inches of rain on Yorktown.

Damage from the storm includes a sinkhole behind Town Hall, compromised culverts, boulders moved into roads, washed out roads and flooding.

Flood damage on the 9-hole course ‘The Links at Valley Fields’ that just opened Saturday, July 8, 2023.

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Municipality

Big hitters

Day-to-day

We cannot reduce our emissions without knowing the baseline. Our baseline is 60.7 tons of CO2e per year per household. This was determined by an excellent study done by the University of California at Berkeley.

<<click>> The single biggest contributor tons is transportation – the vehicles we drive, the flights we take, and to a smaller extent our train commuting.

<<click>> The next biggest contributor is home heating, typically oil or gas.

<<click>> Electricity is a small amount at 3.3 tons, and the grid is getting cleaner every day. But it can be the clean power to fuel our future transportation and heating, and when it is, this component will become a larger part of your footprint.

<<click>> I call these three the “Big hitters,” where we don’t often get to make the choice of a car or furnace, but we can have the most impact.

<<click>> Next on the list is food and there is a lot we can do in terms of not wasting food or making dietary choices.

<<click>> Our waste gets incinerated, but on average we are good at recycling, and this contributes 0.5 tons.

<<click>> The goods and services we buy add many tons, and there’s a lot we can do to reduce this. Primarily, we should divest fossil fuels from our investment and retirement accounts, buy local goods and services, buy efficient appliances and buy goods with less packaging.

<<click>> Food, waste and goods/services are what I call every-day opportunities.

<<click>> Finally, we have a zip code overhead of 5 tons consisting of schools, municipal operations, houses of worships, offices and commercial establishments. This is where we need our partnerships <<click>> to kick in and reduce the zip code overhead.

We can use this knowledge to drive intelligent and caring decisions!

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Vehicles

Facilities

Note: Several Buildings now using Community Solar

(current emissions are lower)

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How the Town of Yorktown Can . . .

Use and support “clean” electric power -

Install rooftop and carport solar on town facilities
Install town-owned solar farms as appropriate

Sustainable Westchester Municipal Solarize
Contacts: Town of Croton, IBM

Enact thoughtful and supportive legislation (not bans)

Solar and wind power installations (the Solar Law)
Energy storage facilities

Consider joining Westchester Power

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How the Town of Yorktown Can . . .

Decarbonize buildings

Complete current audit of municipal buildings
Act on the audit results
Replace oil and gas-fired heating systems with clean electric heat pump systems
Enact legislation enabling new construction to be built for low carbon emissions, including:

Heat pumps, south facing roofs with rooftop solar, carport solar, EV charging stations, increased insulation

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How the Town of Yorktown Can . . .

Use the most efficient vehicles

Electric, PHEV, Hybrid are the priorities - see the emissions inventory for where to implement

https://www.government-fleet.com/10199205/a-closer-look-at-the-nypds-alt-fuel-fleet#:~:text=The%20city's%20law%20enforcement%20fleets,within%20its%20law%20enforcement%20agencies.

NYPD

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Municipal Climate and $ Saving Opportunities

Item	2025 Budget	Opportunity	2035 Budget	Change from 2025
Electricity	587,750	If no action	830,000	+41%
		Opportunity to reduce with Solar - (Note: Town has adequate space for 100% provision)	83,000	-86%
Fuel Oil	261,875	If no action	369,000	+41%
		Heat pumps (no solar)*	160,000	-39%
Gasoline & Motor Oil	176,475	If no action	249,000	+41%
		If migrate to EV and PHEV (no solar)	127,000	-28%

*Requires upfront investment or other form of financing

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Municipal Climate and $ Saving Opportunities – Vehicle Purchases

Item	2025 Budget	Opportunity
Building Maintenance	44,615	Replace with EV, PHEV* or Hybrid
Police	161,559	Replace with EV, PHEV* or Hybrid
Traffic	48,850	Replace with EV, PHEV* or Hybrid

EV energy costs ~ half of a gas vehicle
EV has lowest maintenance cost of any vehicle
Hybrids also improve gas mileage and reduce maintenance costs

*Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle

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How Yorktown Can Encourage Its Residents to …��

Drive the most efficient vehicle – Lead by example and move to PHEV and EV options. Support EV Car Shows & and increase number of local charging locations.
Schedule free home energy audits – Disseminate information with local contacts/resources. Make a goal of 100%!
Install ground- and air-source heat pumps – Lead by example and host informational sessions with Sustainable Westchester (SW)
Sign up for Community Solar to save up to 10% on your electric bill – disseminate information on the benefits & how to join & regular reminders
Promote residential and commercial solar installations – disseminate local sources - can be included with other informational sessions with SW

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How Yorktown Can Encourage Its Residents to …��

Reduce food waste by using the Food Scrap Collection Program –

Create more convenient locations across the town
Offer ‘at cost’ home compost bins

Calculate Household Carbon Footprint –

Disseminate information on free Carbon Calculator at www.Yorktown100.org

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Many opportunities exist for the Town of Yorktown and its residents to reduce their impact on �climate change & save money.��We need to do it together – Now!�

Questions ??