Preparing for Climate Change

Dryden's Environmental Planner Dan Kwasnowski sent me a link to a USA Today cover story article on the city of Keene, New Hampshire and how they are handling climate change. I grew up in Massachusetts and spent summers at a Boy Scout camp in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. On weekends we would go to Keene to see movies and have dinner. I pass through Keene about once a year on my way across New England each summer.

The city of Keene (population: 24,000; city budget: $51M) is doing a number of things including:

Firetrucks, snowplows and other city vehicles run on biodiesel fuel. Methane gas at the municipal landfill is converted into electricity. Street lights use energy-efficient LED bulbs. Three traffic roundabouts keep vehicles moving, minimizing emissions from idling cars.

There is a two fold advantage to "handling climate change" - the second advantage is to reduce our dependency on foreign fuel. Some call this 'oil independence.'

Last Monday I spoke with Matt Cooper, a journalist from the Dryden Courier, about Dryden's own initiatives in planning for an alternative energy future. Matt's article appeared in the February 13th Dryden Courier (no online version available), but highlights include our considerations for alternative methods of energy for the town of Dryden. Joseph Solomon and I talked about it on the campaign trail last fall. The town of Caroline (neighboring Dryden on the south side of town) is a model and has a public committee called Energy Independent Caroline. My goal is to convert the town to more efficient and renewable energy sources and hopefully inspire residents to do the same. I've already talked to the Town of Dryden's conservation board and they seem excited about the idea.

This is just step one of a multi-year plan, but an encouraging first step.

Links:

ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability): http://www.iclei.org/

USA Today Article: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-02-17-keene-prepares_N.htm (This includes an interesting 'Northeast summers heading south' interactive map that shows that the summer climate for upstate New York could be similar to South Carolina and Georgia in the range of years 2070 to 2099.)