Renewable Energy for All

Binghamton, NY; March 11, 2017

From the Organizers:

Let us give our community an opportunity to participate in a sustainable future.

Join us in a discussion of community solar and a new bill by NY Renews, The Climate and Community Protection Act.

Governor Cuomo stated that clean and affordable power should be available to New Yorkers regardless of zip code or income. This is not happening, Solar energy is being reserved for those who can afford to put up thousands of dollars, and this is not fair! We need to fight for equity in solar policy.

Why not us? We are being left out of this movement and need to demand solar in our area!

Presenters:

Amber Johnson, Environmental Justice Organizer, Citizen Action

Amber graduated from SUNY Oneonta in 2014 and since then had been active with many advocacy groups around Central New York and New York City. She has been with Citizen Action since late 2016, working on environmental justice issues.

Adam Flint, Southern Tier (NY) Solar Works Program Manager at the Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition, which he co-founded in 2008.

From 2011-2013, Adam ran the Energy Leadership Program at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County, where he coordinated the Southern Tier Green Jobs Green New York program. He has worked as an educator in the Southern Tier for more than twenty years, including posts as Assistant Professor of Sociology at Hartwick College and as lecturer in Environmental Studies at Binghamton University. Adam co-founded the NY Energy Democracy Alliance, serves on the steering committee, and coordinates COSHARE, the Community Owned Shared Renewables Working Group. He also works on NY State energy policy with a focus on the ‘Reforming the Energy Vision (REV)’ proceeding, He is also a founding member of the Tier Energy Network of the Southern Tier.

Peter Iwanowicz, Executive Director, Environmental Advocates of New York

This is a return to the organization for Peter who served as its Air and Energy Program Director in the late 1990s. Before this position he served as Assistant Vice President with the American Lung Association where he directed the Association’s Healthy Air Campaign – an effort to protect the Clean Air Act. Between 2007 and the end of 2010, Peter was an appointee in the Spitzer and Paterson administrations, serving as the Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and as Deputy Secretary for the Environment. While in State government Peter also served as the Assistant Secretary for the Environment, and was the very first Director of the New York State Office of Climate Change. Peter’s responsibilities as the head of the Office of Climate Change included overseeing the state’s involvement in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and acting as the New York State representative to the International Carbon Action Partnership. Before joining State government in 2007, Peter served as Vice President for the American Lung Association of New York State where he directed the association’s advocacy efforts.

Sponsored by NY Renews, Citizen Action of New York, Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition, and Southern Tier Solar Works.

There is also a livestreamed video of this event on YouTube.