Councilman John Bouvier, on behalf of the Town of Southampton, received a Certificate of Clean Energy Leadership on Friday, April 29th by the Clean Energy Leadership Task Force and the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College, in recognition of leadership demonstrated by the Town in advancing Clean Energy on Long Island by adopting the NYStretch Energy Code-2020, and maintaining stringent third-party verification of energy performance for all new homes.
The Town is a regional leader in the NYSERDA Clean Energy Community (CEC) program, an initiative that supports local government leaders across the state by providing grants to eligible municipalities to implement energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable development projects in their communities. Municipalities earn points for every high-impact action it completes. Once the community earns a certain number of points, it becomes eligible for larger grants. Currently, the Town has achieved the highest number of points (3,000) on Long Island from completing high-impact actions and has submitted for two CEC action grants.
The Town of Southampton is identified as a Bronze certified community in the NYSDEC Climate Smart Community (CSC) Program and recently hired Ramboll for the development of a Climate Action Plan, seeking to decarbonize the municipal and community built environment. Upon the adoption of the Climate Action Plan, the Town will be well positioned to achieve the status of Silver in the CSC program.
“The Town of Southampton is proud to be a leader in the transition to clean energy and combat climate change,” said Councilman John Bouvier. “We look forward to continuing our efforts to promote sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint, and we encourage other municipalities to join us.”
From left to right: Andrew Manitt, Sustainability Institute at Molloy College, Sarah Oral, Clean Energy Communities, Councilman, John Bouvier, Southampton, Michelangelo Leiberman, Town of Southampton, Samantha Klein, Melissa Winslow, Kimberly Shaw, East Hampton Department of Natural Resources, Gordian Raacke, Renewable Energy Long Island, Neal Lewis, Sustainability Institute at Molloy College, Carrie Meek-Gallagher, director NYS Department of Public Service, Long Island Office.