Overview

In May 2018, the Board of Trustees adopted the New York State Climate Smart Communities pledge. The Village pledged to, among other things: inventory its emissions, set goals and make a plan for climate action; decrease energy use; shift to clean, renewable energy; implement climate-smart land use and support a green innovation economy. Trustees voted unanimously to adopt the pledge. Their resolution read, in part: “We believe that even if emissions were drastically reduced today, communities would still be required to adapt to the effects of climate change for decades to come.” Now, the Village is one of New York’s Bronze Certified Climate Smart Communities (CSC), the first in the North Country to be certified, and was the first community in Franklin and Essex Counties to enter the CSC program.

The Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Certification program provides local governments with a robust framework to guide climate action and enable communities to achieve recognition for their leadership matched with community goals. The Village of Saranac Lake has joined over 300 participating communities, within New York State, to engage their citizens and local governments on best practices for mitigating and adapting to climate change.

The goals of the CSC program are to engage and educate local governments in New York State, provide a robust framework to guide their climate action efforts, and recognize their achievements as they make progress. Participation in the program is free and voluntary; there are no fees or legal requirements. The program is designed to encourage ongoing implementation of actions that reduce greenhouse gas emission and help communities adapt to the effects of climate change.

Read more about the CSC program here.

Get Involved

The CSC Task Force meets on the first Wednesday of each month from 4:00 - 5:00pm. Check the calendar for the next meeting date and reach out to Erin Griffin at egriffin@adirondack.org to ask about joining a meeting. Meetings are open to the public.

Follow our progress on the climatesmartsl Instagram page. 

Current Initiatives

We are working on an education campaign to help inform Saranac Lake residents and business owners on the benefits of cold climate air source and ground source heat pumps. Find out more on the HeatSmart Campaign Page!

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory of Government Operations

The CSC Task Force conducted an inventory and analysis of Green House Gases (GHG) produced from Local Government Operations.

Read the full report here.

Saranac Lake CSC Completed Actions For Bronze Certification

Total Points Submitted: 124      Points Needed for Bronze Certification: 120

On September 24, 2020, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that the Village of Saranac Lake is now a Bronze Level Certifed Climate Smart Community.