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Montclair Embarks on Energy-saving Campaign to Save Money, and Shrink our Carbon Footprint
Montclair Township Council passed a resolution adopting the ambitious Carbon Emissions Reduction Plan at the July 12 Council meeting. The Plan includes an associated annual 2% carbon emissions reduction from July 1, 2011 to July 1, 2013, as proposed by the Montclair Climate Committee and the Global Warming Response Act of New Jersey. View the Resolution and Carbon Emissions Reduction Plan.
Achieving the targets will require the combined participation of homeowners, renters, businesses, schools, houses of worship, and the municipal government. The town-wide campaign, dubbed "It's In Our Power", is funded by a grant the Township received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA,) designating Montclair as a Climate Showcase Community.
In preparing this plan, comment was solicited over a six-month period through a robust public input process consisting primarily of the diverse Climate Committee, appointed by the Mayor and Township Council, including representatives of local businesses, Montclair's Public Schools, municipal employees, the Interfaith Environmental Coalition, the senior citizen community, and citizen activists.
Climate Committee members, and their respective representative sectors, include:
Susan Bartol, schools; Barb Conover, residents; Abraham Dickerson, residents, schools; Kevin Fried, interfaith coalition; Tom Lonergan, business community; Stanley White, residents, schools; Katya Wowk, municipality, residents; Mike Yellin, Renters / Landlords.
Constructive input was also provided by members of the Montclair Green Team, including Pat Kenschaft, Fred Chichester, Trina Paulus, Suzanne Aptman, Jennifer Chaky and Stephanie Sheerin. The Montclair Environmental Commission was represented by co-Chair Imke Oster. Mayor Fried provided consistent, helpful ideas and leadership.
