Gov. David Paterson and Senator-designate Kirsten Gillibrand said last week that the secret to economic development in the Hudson Valley is playing to its strengths, especially using its diverse agricultural endeavors and its burgeoning renewable energy initiatives.
Paterson also announced about $5 million in funding to enhance efforts to build a workforce to establish green energy companies in the region.
The two spoke to nearly 500 people attending the Hudson Valley Economic Development Summit held at the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site”™s Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center on Jan. 26.
The crowd size was swelled somewhat because Paterson had designated U.S. Rep. Gillibrand to succeed Hillary Clinton as the state”™s junior U.S. Senator. Gillibrand was formally sworn into her new post Jan. 27 in Washington, D.C.
The economic summit Gillibrand hosted was scheduled long before her appointment as Senator, and her elevation decidedly charged the atmosphere to something of a media and political circus. Numerous Democratic elected officials from the Hudson Valley attended, including U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey and John Hall. Media from New York City to Albany met at the Roosevelt estate and many questions they posed were more gossipy than on topic.
But within the distractions Gillibrand and Paterson addressed potential avenues for economic development in the Hudson Valley, focusing on agribusiness and green energy initiatives.
In her remarks, Gillibrand acknowledged her new post, but said the fundamentals of her job as a representative remained the same, to help constituents. And she said that in the Hudson Valley, agriculture and renewable energy provide, “An opportunity for a synergy to address the downturn in the economy. It could provide a secondary revenue stream for our farmers that will make a difference.”
Farmers, for example can supplement their income from crops by harvesting wind power from turbines in their fields, a technique increasingly common in western New York. Gillibrand also discussed an entrepreneur from her Congressional district who is finding success by growing crops that can serve as insulation material. She said biofuels to power vehicles and other equipment is worth exploring and noted that while renewable energy and solar power initiatives are gaining market share at a rate that increased about 20 percent annually in recent years, there is huge room for further growth because renewable energy accounts for less than 10 percent of the power supply nationally.
Renewable energy, she said, can “challenge global warming head on,” and cited efforts by Israel to develop an entirely electric-car automotive industry and Sweden”™s official policy of being an oil-free economy in 15 years.
Asked by reporters afterward if concerns about climate change are a priority in Congress, she deferred to Hall, who noted that Democrats recently replaced longtime Energy Committee Chairman Rep. John Dingell who was perceived as an ally of the auto industry, with U. S. Rep. Henry Waxman, who has sought to elevate concern about climate change to a national priority.
Gillibrand sees opportunity in crisis. She cited the estimates from the administration of President Barack Obama that renewable energy-related endeavors can create up to 5 million new jobs in the next decade, but said it is more than an economic imperative, but a matter of national security to end our dependence on foreign oil. “We have all the resources to be successful right here,” she said.
Gillibrand also highlighted food production as a national security matter. “If we think dependence on Mideast oil is a problem, how would we feel about getting our food from China?” she asked, citing recent revelations of toxic additives in food products and even toys imported from the nation.
She said “food security” depends on regional and local farms, because in the event of anything from a terrorist attack to a natural disaster, the food chain from California, for example could be disabled for weeks or months, leaving other sectors of the country to feed themselves. She noted the success of small, organic family farms throughout the Hudson Valley as another synergistic economic opportunity, helping provide quality food while maintaining the scenic landscape that attracts tourists to the Hudson Valley.
When he addressed the conference, Paterson also cited energy as a potent economic engine in the Hudson Valley. He compared Americans to the scions of wealthy families who are left a huge inheritance, in this case the world”™s oil supply, and irresponsibly blow it on loose living.
He cited his new state policy, announced Jan. 9 to require New York state meet 45 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by year 2015. While acknowledging that as an extremely ambitious goal, Paterson harkened back to the days when the Sputnik satellite launched by the then-Soviet Union galvanized Americans and resulted in the 1969 moon landing.
“We not only got to the moon first, we became the world leaders in technology and cutting-edge inventions.” Paterson said.
He said a similar effort today that is focused on energy would create 50,000 jobs in New York and said a national consensus is needed now for energy matters.
“We must revolutionize the way we see energy,” Paterson said, which will help both the global environment and the local economy. “We can go right back to being leaders in renewable energy sources.”
Paterson used the occasion to announce that $5 million in funding would be used toward solar-industry training programs and job creation in Ulster, Dutchess, Sullivan, Orange and Columbia counties. Some of the money was previously announced, but the scope of the program and its coordinated approach are apparently new.
The program will provide $415,000 to enhance photovoltaic classes through Ulster County BOCES.
The grant covers other BOCES as well as community colleges in Ulster, Sullivan, Orange, and Rockland, with UCCC taking the lead. Officials said the Ulster BOCES and community college programs were chosen through a bid process and selected because there are existing courses that work with higher education.
The programs will dovetail with efforts by the fledgling Solar Energy Consortium, a nonprofit partnership of government, academia and private industry that is seeking to create a renewable energy cluster to research, develop and manufacture products that focus on solar, wind and other aspects of renewable energy. That effort is headquartered currently in Kingston but has affiliate groups throughout the Hudson Valley and New York.
Â
