Press Release:
BEACON AWARDED SILVER STATUS AS A CLIMATE SMART COMMUNITY BY NYS
The City of Beacon has been awarded silver status as a Climate Smart Community by New York State, as a result of taking major environmental steps towards sustainability. Beacon is one of only two cities to achieve silver status, currently the highest designation across New York State.With silver status, the City will now be even more competitive for up to two million dollars annually in climate-related grant funding.
The Climate Smart Communities Program, administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, supports municipal efforts to meet the economic, social, and environmental challenges posed by climate change. Certified communities can earn points by taking actions to help mitigate climate change. The actions Beacon has taken make the City eligible to apply for NYSERDA grants to fund additional clean energy projects. The City has already received one of those awards and put it towards plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Beacon has completed 38 climate actions in total, including developing Community and Government Greenhouse Gas Inventories, converting street lights and municipal building lights to LEDs, installing a solar field above an old landfill, installing electric vehicle charging stations, purchasing electric vehicles, and incorporating climate adaption and mitigation into the City’s comprehensive plan. In total, Beacon reduced municipal Green House Gas emissions from City facilities by 35 percent from 2012 to 2019.
DEC Commissioner Seggos said, "New York State is committed to doing our utmost to support local communities as they adapt to severe weather and transition to cleaner energy sources. Even in the face of COVID-19, these communities remind us how important it is to invest in building a stronger, more resilient New York for generations to come. The 13 certified Climate Smart Communities announced today are a powerful example of what municipalities can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou said, "I’m proud that Beacon has emerged as a climate leader in New York State. Our silver certification is a testament to the values and principles of this community. I’d like to thank the Conservation Advisory Committee and our Climate Smart Coordinator for all of their hard work. There is still a lot of work to do and I’m looking forward to continuing on the path to become the most sustainable city in New York State.”
More information about the City of Beacon’s sustainability efforts is available on its webpage: https://www.cityofbeacon.org/index.php/departments/sustainability/
Beacon, New York is located on the eastern shore of the Hudson River 60 miles north of New York City, with a population of 15,000. Originally a Native American settlement, the area was purchased from the Wappinger Tribe in 1683 and settled by Dutch and other Europeans, leading to the riverfront community of Fishkill Landing on the Hudson, and the mill community of Matteawan on Fishkill Creek. The two communities were incorporated together as the City of Beacon in 1913, named for the Revolutionary War signal fires on Mount Beacon. Beacon thrived as a 19th and 20th Century factory city, but as factories closed after WWII and the local economy declined, the city went through a period of hard times. Today, Beacon has successfully reinvented itself as a 21st Century river community centered around tourism, the arts and access to the scenic Hudson River heritage area. A diverse and thriving small city, it is now home to DIA:Beacon (one of the largest exhibition spaces in the country for modern and contemporary art), a network of Hudson River parks connecting to Fishkill Creek and Mount Beacon trails, and a vibrant historic Main Street of art galleries, shops, cultural venues and restaurants.
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