Village of Warwick earns Climate Smart Community Bronze certification
Warwick. To achieve certification, local governments accumulate points for planning and implementation actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve community resilience to the worsening impacts of climate change.
| 02 May 2023 | 03:14
Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus is proud to recognize the Village of Warwick for being certified as a Climate Smart Community (CSC) by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
To achieve Climate Smart Community certification, local governments accumulate points for planning and implementation actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve community resilience to the worsening impacts of climate change.
“The Climate Smart Community program provides a wonderful example of what we can do to foster smart local climate action, while saving local governments and residents money on their energy bills, while creating local jobs,” Neuhaus said. “The county remains steadfast in its commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and protecting the environment. I congratulate the Village of Warwick on earning the CSC recognition.”
Nine years ago, Orange County became the first New York State county certified under the CSC program and was the first to be recertified in 2019. Started in 2009, the CSC program provides guidance and technical support to local governments to take locally driven climate action.
To date, 377 local governments representing more than 9.4 million New Yorkers adopted the Climate Smart Communities pledge.
The certification program was launched in 2014 to document and celebrate the accomplishments of communities taking climate action.
The addition of today’s new communities brings New York’s total number of certified Climate Smart Communities to 118 - 10 at the silver level and 108 at the bronze level, including Warwick.
“The Village of Warwick is pleased to be recognized as a bronze level Climate Smart Community,” Village of Warwick Mayor Michael Newhard said. “Being a participant in this program has been a way for us to measure our efforts that are part of our ongoing commitment to the environment We are glad to share this status with Orange County Government and we hope other Orange County municipalities will see the importance and be part of the CSC Program.”
How the Village of Warwick earned its bronze certification
Pledge Element
Warwick Village Trustee Tom McKnight provided the following information to demonstrate how the village earned Climate Smart Community Bronze certification:
A survey question in the 2022 Comprehensive Plan asked: How important is it for the Village to prioritize environmental sustainability?
More than 80 percent responded that it was either of High or Very High importance.
In 2022 the village formed a Climate Smart Community Task Force and are using the CSC as a framework to help further sustainability efforts, such as:
Do our part to lower our GHG emissions
Reduce energy consumption
Lower cost to taxpayers
Unlock savings
Completed CSC High Impact Actions as of Dec. 12, 2022:
Pledge Element1 Action: CSC Task Force
PE1 Action: CSC Coordinator
PE1 Action: National/Regional Climate Program
PE1 Action: Partnerships with Other Entities
PE2 Action: Government Operations GHG Inventory
PE3 Action: Interior Lighting Upgrades
PE3 Action: Benchmarking - Municipal Buildings
PE3 Action: Fleet Inventory
PE3 Action: Fleet Rightsizing
PE3 Action: LED Street Lights
PE3 Action: Energy Code Enforcement Training
PE5 Action: Recycling Bins in Government Buildings
PE5 Action: Reuse Programs
PE5 Action: Recycling Program for Public Places & Events
PE5 Action: Community Repair
PE5 Action: Compost Bins for Residents
PE5 Action: Residential Organic Waste Program
PE6 Action: Unified Solar Permit
PE6 Action: Alternative fuel infrastructure
PE6 Action: Access to Public Transit
PE6 Action: Local Forestry Program
PE6 Action: Zoning for Protection of Natural Areas
PE7 Action: Cooling Center
PE7 Action: Water Conservation and Reuse
PE8 Action: Farmers’ Markets
PE8 Action: Rooftop Solarize Campaign
PE9 Action: Climate Change Education and Engagement
PE9 Action: Climate-Related Public Events
PE9 Action: Social Media
“The next step is for the village to respond to NYSERDA’s request for additional documentation regarding some of the Actions, so that we may receive full points for what was submitted,” McKnight said. “After that we will be in position to start on additional actions.”