New agenda on climate change in Ulster

Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger has signed an Executive Order with more than a dozen directives to help deal with climate change.

The Executive Order directs that all county government buildings be assessed to see whether on-site solar and electricity storage can be added with a goal of making sure that  all electricity used in the buildings comes from renewable sources by 2030. Another directive sets a goal of achieving reductions of community-wide greenhouse gas emissions of 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050.

The Executive Order sets a goal of diverting 100% of organic waste from landfills and incinerators by 2030. It also calls for studying the Ulster County Area Transit service with the goal of expanding routes and scheduling and continuing to fully electrify the fleet.

Among the other directives is one that requires county departments to develop plans to help residents and small businesses take advantage of state and federal assistance and incentives in becoming more energy efficient and adopting other environmentally-sound initiatives.

In the Executive Order, Metzger noted that Ulster County has seen significant increases in energy costs driven by the volatile prices of fossil fuels. She said that through continued efforts to become more energy efficient and switch to alternative fuels energy costs can be stabilized.