Town Of Mamaroneck Once Again Certified As 'Climate Smart Community'

TOWN OF MAMARONECK — There were just ten municipalities in New York to be singled out as examples of exceptional environmental stewardship this round and only one of those communities was a two-time winner of the honor.

The Town of Mamaroneck was among 10 New York State communities determined to be "Models for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Building Local Climate Resilience."

The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced the latest round of communities to achieve certification as part of the state's Climate Smart Communities program. This program supports local efforts to meet the challenges posed by climate change, by taking meaningful steps to mitigate and adapt. The DEC reported that nine local governments in NYS met the criteria to be recognized as leaders for the first time. The Town of Mamaroneck received bronze-level certification and was the only municipality in this round to meet the criteria for the second time, having renewed the certification it originally earned in 2016.

"DEC applauds the work of these 10 communities taking local action to help address the threat of climate change and bolster our climate leadership under Governor Kathy Hochul," Seggos said, announcing the town's repeat success. "We look forward to working with our Climate Smart Communities and other local leaders incorporating clean energy, climate resiliency, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, among other actions, in policies and plans that benefit local residents, create green jobs, and help build a stronger, more resilient New York State."

The Town has made the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions a priority for over 10 years through its energy and cost-saving programs, including installation of EV charging stations, retrofitting buildings to reduce energy usage, retrofitting streetlights with LED bulbs, purchasing electric municipal vehicles, initiating a food scrap recycling program, joining Westchester Power to control residents' electricity costs and increasing the use of renewable energy.

“We are proud to achieve this milestone towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and once again, illustrate that the Town continues to be a leader in NYS in environmental initiatives,” Town of Mamaroneck Supervisor Jaine Elkind Eney said.

The supervisor particularly thanked the Sustainability Collaborative for all of their work on the months-long certification process, notably volunteers Karen Khor, June Wallach, Mitch Green and especially, Denise Dunn and Mamaroneck High School student Kat Warwick who had been interning since September working on this certification.

The Climate Smart Community certification program began in 2014 in order to document and celebrate the accomplishments of communities in NYS taking climate action. The actions that each certified community took to achieve certification can be found here.

SEE ALSO:

• Town Of Mamaroneck Declares Climate Emergency