Somewhere, OPEC is meeting, dreaming of black ink and black gold. Somewhere, Exxon-Mobil is meeting, also in black-themed conferences. In the Hudson Valley, the meeting scene is tinting green.
“I definitely am seeing more green conferences in the region, especially on renewable energy and sustainability and how the Hudson Valley can become leaders in those fields,” said Katy Dunlop of the Hudson River Watershed Alliance, a consortium of environmental groups from the river”™s vast watershed that organizes and also attends such conferences.Â
The latest in a series of conferences arranged by the Watershed Alliance is a day long gathering to examine the effects that global climate change will have on the Hudson Valley and the planet convening Nov. 21 at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz.Â
“One of the things we are trying to do in this conference is to get business people and government officials there to be part of the audience,” said Sandra Smiley, a board member with Mohonk Consultations, a nonprofit group that helps arrange conferences at the Mohonk hotel to examine public policy issues. “The information about climate change needs to get to that business and political audience to make a difference in changing policy and responding to the threat. Otherwise we may find ourselves preaching to the converted.”
Dunlop said the implications of climate change for a watershed go beyond the obvious concerns about flooding into questions of infrastructure and land use planning for developed areas along hundreds of miles of Hudson River shore line. It is also cause for concern in New York City, which has some 500 miles of coast line, and some of the most famous low-lying real estate in the world along East River. There is also huge investment in infrastructure and development along coastal Long Island.
Some estimates posit that every foot of sea level rise would devour 100 feet of shore line. And while older standard estimates project a three-foot sea level rise over a century, new information suggests that if action is not taken within about a decade, the build up of carbon and other greenhouse gases could unleash an inexorable and irreversible rise in temperatures that will melt the polar ice and cause sea level rises of 20 feet or more over the next century, according to James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Space Center who has studied climate change for decades.   Â
Such a dire outcome was once scoffed at, but as evidence accumulates to back it, more companies in the insurance and re-insurance business are taking a harder look.
“The purpose of this conference is to make this more of a reality,” Smiley said. “We hear all this information and a lot of people write it off as, well, the climate has been changing forever. But it is becoming more critical. It will have a major impact on every business.”
While climate change is a hot topic, the green tinged conferences do not only focus on threats, but can seek to develop opportunities related to the Hudson Valley”™s history and architecture. That was the topic of a daylong conference held at the Thayer Hotel Nov. 12 focusing on ways to assist riverfront communities in the Hudson Valley in revitalization efforts.
The session called, “Hudson’s Riverfront: The Next 400 Years,” was arranged by a new group in Westchester County called Historic Hudson River Towns, which organized the conference. The conference brought together public officials, entrepreneurs, industry and civic leaders, developers, and citizens to discuss topics ranging from how municipalities can spur recreation of vibrant downtowns to green redevelopment of waterfronts.
And green building in general is a fertile subject for conferences. Another in a series of such conferences also took place last week. With an array of sponsors ranging from Orange County Rural Development Advisory Group to the Orange County Planning Department to the Hudson Valley Regional Council, the conference called “Affordable and Green: Efficient Housing for Today and Tomorrow” was held at the Inn at Central Valley. It focused on ways builders and homeowners can improve the sustainable elements and energy efficiency of residential and community development.
“I would say there are lot more conferences going on, because there is a lot of interest in green approaches right now,” said Katie Martello, senior marketing manager for Mohonk Hotel. “There are a lot of things contributing to the interest in it.”
