EARTH, WIND, FIRE, and WATER

Catalyzing A Vision Of An Energy $mart Park

One of The Association’s distinguishing features and major strengths is its ability to form collaborative relationships to explore and address issues of common concern.  We intend to focus our education and outreach activities to catalyze individuals, organizations, and communities to help develop a vision of an Adirondack Park that serves as a world model of sustainable energy production and use, while simultaneously contributing to the well-being of the Park’s natural and human communities.

Before we can craft a vision of a new energy future with the input of the larger Adirondack community, however, we must reach consensus on the nature of the challenges we face and the goals we seek to achieve.  We are aware that this process could be complicated by a widening division between those who see global climate change as the ultimate energy-related threat to the planet and those who view skyrocketing fuel prices as the major issue of concern.  Many Adirondack Park residents hold the latter point of view, and see climate change as an ill-defined, long-term problem beyond their control.  We empathize with this line of reasoning, but we adhere to the analysis of Vice President Al Gore, who maintains that real solutions to the climate crisis are the same measures needed to renew and invigorate our economy and to escape the trap of ever-rising energy prices.  With this dichotomy in mind, we will work to promote united regional action on the questions of climate change and of energy cost and availability, which are in fact different aspects of the same fundamental issue: our nation’s crippling reliance on increasingly costly and limited supplies of fossil fuels for transportation, electricity, and heat.

Exploring Strategies For Success

If we hope to promote a sea change in public opinion that leads to real solutions to both current and long-term energy challenges, we must employ a comprehensive set of strategies that cut across our entire programmatic platform.  Many of these strategies can best be implemented through collaborative relationships such as E$PI, while others fit well within our existing organizational framework.

Our primary emphasis in collaborative activity will remain focused upon the promotion of energy conservation and efficiency in homes and other buildings, which are proven, cost-effective ways to reduce energy-related expenses and curtail the flow of wealth from our communities.  In general, this type of work is most effectively accomplished by organizations that specialize in the delivery of services and information that link governmental programs with the private sector.  The role of The Association in such work is limited, and is directed primarily at educating and informing our constituents, and advocating for policies and programs in support of the public and our partners.  In addition, we will continue to investigate and assess the feasibility and advisability of using energy generated regionally from solar, low-head hydropower, geothermal, biomass, and from modestly scaled, carefully sited wind turbines to offset and eventually replace a significant fraction of the fossil-based electricity, natural gas, and liquid petroleum products now consumed in the region.

We are particularly enthusiastic about the potential of privately owned regional forestlands to furnish a sustainable flow of woody biomass that can be utilized to heat homes and other buildings, provide a source of industrial energy, and produce a variety of value-added products such as alcohols and other chemicals and biodegradable plastics, in addition to more traditional items like paper and lumber.  In fact, biomass may well become a key component of our Energy $mart future, offsetting fossil fuels, reducing energy costs, and creating new “green collar” jobs to bolster and diversify the regional economy.  At the same time, we are concerned about the potential of biomass markets to overwhelm the capacity of our forests to sustain a flow of fiber while providing a host of ecosystem services that underpin the ecological integrity of Adirondack ecosystems and provide us with abundant wildlife, clean water, and unparalleled recreational opportunities.

Transitioning to a new energy era will require the involvement of all levels of government, as well as from the residential, commercial, industrial, academic, and not-for-profit sectors of our regional community.  The Association is well positioned to promote appropriate government involvement by employing our capacity for public education, advocacy, lobbying, and grassroots activism.  We will thus be able to help fashion and employ a set of incentives, policy initiatives, and a regulatory framework to foster energy conservation, efficiency, and the gradual replacement of fossil fuels by clean, renewable, carbon-free and carbon-neutral sources.  We also feel it is important for us to continue to promote sound land use planning in the Park, such as strict protection of sensitive resources, adherence to the concepts of conservation-based development, and employment of the principles of economic “smart growth” to the emerging regional model of clean, green, sustainable energy production and use.

Building Capacity For Action

We firmly believe that we must remain involved in the urgent task of forging a sustainable energy future for the Adirondack region.  But the ultimate effectiveness of The Association in carrying out programs like its Adirondack Energy Initiative depends directly upon the degree to which we are able to leverage the support and involvement of many individuals and organizations, varying from our members and Trustees to collaborative partners, governmental agencies, elected representatives, and our colleagues in conservation.  Your continuing support allows us to mobilize our cadre of staff, volunteers, interns, and professional associates to do the work our mission demands, while dealing with the routine tasks of today and positioning ourselves for the challenges of tomorrow.  We cannot do this good work without you.