Town of Mamaroneck Named New York State Top 'Climate Smart Community'

TOWN OF MAMARONECK, NY — The rest of the world now knows what has been an open secret in the Town of Mamaroneck — a community can accomplish a lot when it comes to protecting the environment with leadership and teamwork.

The Town of Mamaroneck was named a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Climate Smart Community at the Silver level (the program's highest certification level). The town is now ranked an impressive 6th out of the 1,700 communities in New York.

NYS DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton made the announcement on Monday in Kingston.

New York State's Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Certification program was conceived to help local governments save energy, reduce flood risk, address extreme heat, and develop other plans to demonstrate climate leadership.

Certified communities have completed and documented actions that mitigate and adapt to climate change at the local level. Communities certified as part of the CSC certification program accumulate points for planning and implementing actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve community resilience.

"Through Climate Smart, we're taking meaningful action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change, while opening doors to new grants and resources," Town of Mamaroneck Supervisor Jaine Elkind Eney said. "Certified communities have proven their commitment to a sustainable future, and Mamaroneck is proud to be a leader among them."

The Town of Mamaroneck has made reducing greenhouse gas emissions a priority through energy and cost-saving programs, including installing EV charging stations, retrofitting public buildings to reduce energy use, installing LED bulbs in streetlights, purchasing electric vehicles for municipal use, participating in "community solar" programs, and banning gas-powered leaf blowers.

What makes the distinction even more impressive, is that many of the climate actions have been funded by grants at no cost to the taxpayer.