TOWN OF MONROE TO BECOME CLIMATE SMART COMMUNITY

Three new York Communities Receive Climate Smart Certification

With smokey forest fires in northern Canada, dangerous heat waves, and flooding of our streets from more frequent and intense storms, the signs of climate change are upon us. To do our part to lessen its severity and help protect against the coming challenges, in 2022 Monroe registered to become a New York State Climate Smart Community (CSC).

The CSC is a New York State program that helps local governments take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate. The program offers free technical assistance, grants and rebates for electric vehicles.

Participating Communities in New York State Climate Smart Communities Program

There are many benefits of being a CSC:

• Save taxpayers’ money through greater resource efficiency

• Increase energy security by planning for blackouts, shortages due to population

growth, and homeland security threats

• Increase flood resilience through adaptation strategies for dealing with events like

Hurricane Ian and Superstorm Sandy

• Create a healthier, more walkable Monroe through smart growth

• Conserve green spaces for recreation and biodiversity

• Reduce greenhouse gases for the benefit of future generations

The first steps are to pass the climate smart pledge and become a Registered Climate Smart Community, which we did in 2022. Next, to achieve certification, the Town will accumulate points for planning and implementation actions for greenhouse gas emission reduction and climate change adaptation measures. Some of these actions could include developing or enhancing home composting and recycling programs, switching to energy-efficient LED street lights and traffic signals, and installing electric vehicle charging stations.

Many of the actions completed by certified Climate Smart Communities help local leaders identify how best to reduce local vulnerability to climate impacts and help New York State meet its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction mandates.

INTERNAL

For more information, please visit https://climatesmart.ny.gov/ If you are interested in finding out more about our local effort or in joining our team of highly motivated volunteers, please email us at Townofmonroenycsc@gmail.com.