Huntington Only 4th Long Island Town to Achieve Recognition as Leader in Climate Action & Mitigation
Huntington – The Town of Huntington has achieved Bronze certification status as one of only 90 certified Climate Smart Communities (CSC) in New York State and only the fourth Town on Long Island, as announced by the Department of Environmental Conservation on March 24.
“Earning this recognition as a Climate Smart Community underscores the Town of Huntington’s decades-long commitment to our environment,” said Supervisor Ed Smyth. “We are proud of the climate action prioritized and undertaken under the guidance of our Advisory Committee on Energy Efficiency, Renewables & Sustainability and our recently retired Chief Sustainability Officer, Terese Kinsley, who were responsible for all of the heavy lifting it took for the Town to achieve this honor.”
On March 23, 2022, the Town of Huntington achieved Bronze certification as a Climate Smart Community (CSC) with 193 points earned from 31 completed actions:
- Build a climate-smart community: adopting the CSC Pledge; creating a CSC Task Force; appointing a CSC Coordinator; involvement in national/regional climate programs including the New York State Climate Smart Communities Initiative, the NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities Program, the Long Island Green Homes Program, the Suffolk County Planning Commission Energy and Environment Task Force, the Greater Long Island Clean Cities Coalition, and the USDOE Better Buildings Challenge, among others.
- Inventory emissions, set goals, and plan for climate action: adopting a Climate Action Plan and amending the plan to add a community-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduction target.
- Decrease energy use: conducting government building energy audits; upgrading the building energy management system; implementing clean fleets of advanced vehicles; converting traffic signals to LED; completed Energy Code Enforcement Training
- Shift to clean, renewable energy: completing feasibility studies of solar and geothermal energy technologies.
- Use climate-smart materials management: deploying recycling bins in government buildings and implementing a residential organic waste/yard waste program.
- Implement climate-smart land use: implementing smart growth policies; promoting local food systems with organic gardens; investing in and promoting biking, walking and alternative-fuel/electric vehicle infrastructure; implementing a local forestry program; and enacted zoning for the protection of natural areas.
- Enhance community resilience to climate change: promoting cooling centers; conserving natural areas by preserving open space through the formation of the Environmental Open Space and Park Improvement EOSPA fund; implementing green infrastructure; promoting water conservation and reuse as an EPA WaterSense Program partner.
- Support a green innovation economy: contracting with farmers' markets on Town property; brownfield clean-up and redevelopment; implementing tax incentives for green businesses; participation in a rooftop solarization campaign.
- Inform and inspire the public: promoting an energy reduction campaign with Long Island Green Homes; sponsored climate-related public events with MTA Transit Solutions to promote Sustainable Transportation; hosting pages on the Town website dedicated to local climate action (huntingtonny.gov/green); and using Town social media to communicate climate initiatives.
The Town of Huntington joined only three other Long Island Towns previously certified and nine newly certified Climate Smart Communities (CSC) across New York State, bringing the total number of CSC-certified communities to 90. CSC-certified communities are recognized as models for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building local climate resilience.
Town of Huntington Climate Smart Communities Certification History
Joining the County of Suffolk and sister towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, East Hampton, Islip, Smithtown and Southampton, Huntington adopted the Climate Smart Communities pledge on July 24, 2012, becoming part of the unprecedented state-local partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save taxpayer dollars and advance community goals for health and safety, economic vitality, energy independence and quality of life.
In 2014, the Huntington Town Board established its Advisory Committee on Energy Efficiency, Renewables & Sustainability (ACEERS) to replace the former Renewable Energy Task Force (RETF) formed in 2007 to help prioritize energy issues, research renewable technologies and report findings to the Town Board.
In June 2015, the Town of Huntington became the first municipality on Long Island to adopt a Climate Action Plan. The plan serves as a formal roadmap to improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to mitigate and adapt to the negative effects of climate change.
In July 2018, the Town applied for $62,500 in grant funding under the New York State Consolidated Funding Application process for a Climate Smart Communities certification project to inventory emissions, set goals, and plan for climate action; the required 50% local match for the grant was funded by the Town’s EOSPA Green Project Fund, as recommended by the Town's Environmental Open Space & Park Fund Review Advisory Committee (EOSPA) and Advisory Committee on Energy Efficiency, Renewables & Sustainability (ACEERS).
In February 2021, as required by the certification process, the Town Board established a Climate Smart Communities Task Force, led by ACEERS, to assist the Town in achieving Climate Smart Communities program goals; at the same meeting the Town Board appointed a Climate Smart Coordinator, the Town’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Terese M. Kinsley, P.E., LEED AP BD+C, to oversee activities of the Task Force and associated climate mitigation and adaptation activities.
In May 2021, the Town Board hired Nicola Armacost as a Climate Smart Communities (CSC) strategic advisor to assist the Town in achieving Bronze Climate Smart Communities certification by the July 2, 2021 application deadline. Armacost assisted the Town in identifying and documenting the Town's climate achievements since the Climate Smart Communities pledge that helped accelerate both CSC certification and sustainability efforts. Nicola Armacost previously supported several Westchester municipalities in achieving Bronze certification and Hasting-on-Hudson to achieve Silver certification.
By taking meaningful steps to mitigate and adapt to climate change, on March 23, 2022, the Town of Huntington joined nine other governments across New York State which met the criteria to be recognized as bronze-certified Climate Smart Community leaders.
The Town of Huntington is the fourth town and sixth Long Island municipality to achieve certification status after the Town of Southampton (Bronze, 2017); Town of Hempstead (Bronze, 2020); and Town of East Hampton (Bronze, 2021). The City of Long Beach (Bronze, 2019) and County of Suffolk (Silver, 2020) achieved certification status.
DEC announcement: https://www.dec.ny.gov/press/125017.html
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