Every day around the world escalating climate disruption is taking lives, property and economic stability from communities. It will get much worse if we don’t reduce emissions by transitioning to cleaner sources of power. But where should we put the solar and wind farms we are going to need?

NYS has set a goal of providing 100% of our electrical demand from carbon-free sources by 2040. How much land will be needed to site that much solar and wind energy? Who should decide where it goes? What are our options?

Join us for our Fall Finger Lakes Forecast webinar “Land Use and Renewables” on September 28 at noon. Our panelists will explore those topics and more to help you understand how this may impact our food and energy security, and what public investments we should plan for as we face the challenges of climate change. David Kay of Cornell’s Dept. of Global Development will provide a look at the numbers involved and what NYS is crafting around policy and programs. Kaitlin Stack Whitney of RIT’s Science and Technology Studies will share insights into where we might place solar arrays other than farmland, while Graham Savio, Agriculture Leader at CCE Tompkins will explore the potential of agrivoltaics – the production of crops and livestock within solar or wind arrays.

Our Finger Lakes Forecast webinar series focuses on how climate change will impact life in the Finger Lakes Region and what people can do for themselves and their communities to prepare. This webinar series is free and open to the public. You can check out our Spring Finger Lakes Forecast webinar series on food security, flood risks, and toxic algae blooms at our YouTube channel.

Please join us at Noon on Wednesday, September 28 to learn what citizens of the Finger Lakes can do to support policies for the responsible siting and management of the renewable energy sources of the future. Register for this event at bit.ly/SEPT28forecast.

For more information, email gay@sustainablefingerlakes.org.