Local radio host Juliana Garcia invited ST’s President Gay Nicholson and Board Chair Tom Shelley to join her on February 15 for her weekly ‘Talk of the Town’ show on WVBR. Listen here to check out our wide-ranging conversation about living more sustainably.
Posts tagged climate fund
Fall Creek Resident Wins Grant from Finger Lakes Climate Fund
Jun 25th
Deb Thompson shows off her fully insulated basement and on-demand water heater.
It was a sunny fresh June day in the Fall Creek neighborhood of Ithaca – the kind of day when memories of winter storms or summer heat waves fade away – but the crew from local energy contractor, Snug Planet, were utterly focused on preparing Deborah Thompson’s historic home on Marshall Street for exactly that kind of weather.
Thompson is the latest recipient of a grant from our Finger Lakes Climate Fund. The program offers travelers and building owners a way to take responsibility for their fossil carbon emissions by making donations to the Fund. They can use the Fund’s carbon calculator to determine the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from their air and car travel or building electricity and heating, and then make a donation that will pay to offset an equal amount of carbon by improving energy efficiency in the homes of modest-income residents.
In the case of the Thompson home, Snug Planet estimated that the improvements they made would eliminate about 54 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, and resulted in a grant from the Finger Lakes Climate Fund for $1,076 towards the cost. Over the course of several days, their team did extensive work in insulating and sealing leaks in the attic, and addressed moisture problems, air leaks, and lack of insulation in the basement.
Sustainable Tompkins has announced the availability of a fifth round of grant awards due at the end of June. So far the program has helped a very diverse mix of household types in Dryden, Enfield, Lansing, and the City of Ithaca. Details of the projects can be found at www.fingerlakesclimatefund.org.
Finger Lakes Climate Fund supported by Cornell conference
May 26th
Our Finger Lakes Climate Fund got a big boost this month when LeChase Construction of Rochester volunteered to offset all of the travel-related emissions from a Cornell conference on energy and university facility management. This contribution will go a long way toward helping a local family become more energy secure. Grants from the Finger Lakes Climate Fund are awarded to families below the median income to help them go forward with energy improvements that will save them money and reduce their emissions. As the summer travel season approaches, we urge everyone to take responsibility for their carbon emissions — and help others in our community while you are at it! Read the rest of this entry »
The Truth About Energy Security
Apr 11th
By Gay Nicholson, Ph.D., President of Sustainable Tompkins
The theme of our recent Energy Fair was community energy security. Real energy security.
Most of us associate “energy security” with fossil fuel industry lobbyists who try to convince Americans that we will be more secure if we stop relying on imports of foreign oil and just let them expand drilling offshore or in the rural lands of America.
But is that really a plan that will make us more secure? Consider this:
Energy efficiency has never polluted the Gulf of Mexico or slimed the shores of Alaska.
Solar panels never gave a child asthma or blew off a mountain top.
Wind turbines have never threatened millions with cancer-causing radiation.
Energy conservation has never polluted drinking water supplies or destroyed a rural landscape.
We’ll never be really secure if we continue to base our economy and our way of life on fossil energy. We know it’s a tightening noose with constantly rising prices and amplifying environmental damages. Read the rest of this entry »
Sustainable Tompkins urges travelers to go ‘green’
Dec 29th
Ithaca Journal
By Stacey Shackford
Program rewards residents for cutting carbon emissions
Whether jetting off to far-flung locales or driving a few hours to spend time with family this holiday season, local environmental leaders are asking Tompkins County residents to consider offsetting their carbon emissions locally.
Read the full article…
