If Rockland isn”™t leaning toward green in its comprehensive master plan, it”™s not for lack of interest; it”™s lack of money.
The enthusiasm is there, but keeping taxes as low as possible and paying the bills trump spending thousands to reduce the carbon footprint.
That was the opinion of panel members at a green energy summit sponsored by the Rockland Business Association June 9 at Rockland Community College.
The panel was led by Carl Meyer, former Central Hudson executive and now president of The Solar Energy Consortium, whose mission is to establish the Hudson Valley on the national “solar footprint.”
Panel members included Ron Hicks, president of the Rockland Economic Development Corp.; Bruce Kaminstein, CEO of Casabella Holdings ; Rich Struck, director of economic development with Orange & Rockland Utilities; James Albert, president and founder of ISI Solar ; and Howard Gurock, president of Eco-Lite Products.
Casabella designs and distributes household goods and Kaminstein likes the idea of green cleaning products. But, he said, “Unlike the construction industry, there is no agency certifying products as green. Anyone can say they are, but are they really environmentally friendly and being made in an environmentally friendly way.
“The consumer market is recession scarred,” he said. “They are not going to switch over to renewable energy or invest thousands in this economic climate if it is a question of staying alive or being an ”˜energy player.”™ They want products that produce the same result for the least amount of money.”
Gurock, whose lighting fixture company creates specialized lighting, said LED is going to be the wave of the future. “We are not there yet when it comes to creating the LED lighting for retail stores, but we are working on it. The savings companies can realize within a year are enough to make them believers.” But like many of the new technologies available, it is expensive to produce and buy. Those who have invested in LED see a return on their investment in a short period of time. If they afford it, they do it.”
Hicks likes the notion of being less energy dependent and sees the switch from oil dependency to renewable energy as a national security issue. “We do need to be concerned about how we are creating these green technologies that are still combined with the use of use of fossil fuels to get them operating.”
Hicks”™ immediate concern was the breakdown of state government. “The end of the Empire Zone program is a tremendous blow to the entire state. It is going to be gone by June 30 and nothing is in place to replace it. We can give PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) programs, but we can”™t offer much to companies to come here,” he said. “New York”™s reputation as business-unfriendly is well known from here to California … and if people aren”™t happy with what”™s happening, let your elected representatives know.”
Hicks encouraged Rockland companies to take the opportunity to get savvier about doing business with the federal government because of the lucrative contracts available. “It may not solve Rockland”™s need to get on the solar energy bandwagon, but it will make it possible to keep our economy going.”
Rockland”™s heart is “in the right place,” Meyer said, “but we have not educated New York”™s population on the real benefits of green ”“ we need to help the community understand them.”
“New York is in a crisis ”“ we have to be more welcoming to the businesses that can bring those jobs here and create a sustainable renewable energy base; some ”˜sacred cows”™ need to be gored to change the way we look to attract and retain business. Maybe that will open the door to people having enough time to understand how important renewable energy is to us,” Meyer said.
