An important focus of my administration has been to study, develop and implement green house gas reduction measures. We created the position Director of Energy and Sustainability and our team helped champion efforts to secure a $2.5 million dollar energy efficiency grant from the federal stimulus program. We also formed the county’s
Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee, comprising representatives from all county departments and headed by the Director of our Office of the Environment, David Coburn. One of the charges of the committee was to develop and advance the following comprehensive Climate Action Plan for Onondaga County.

The Climate Action Plan includes a baseline inventory of the County’s carbon emissions, a listing of those emissions by source and recommendations for improving our greenhouse gas inventory. Two of the most important and challenging aspects of the Climate Action Plan are financing and implementing its recommendations, but we are not going to miss out on these opportunities—we are determined to act on our words.

We are excited to move forward with the following actions to be more sustainable and reduce our carbon footprint. And while we have already begun to execute these changes in the workplace, throughout the community and at home, there is and will always be more to do.