To the Editor:

Following through on our recently updated comprehensive plan, New Scotland’s town board has worked hard to promote climate-conscious practices and invest in green infrastructure to reduce energy use, save taxpayers money, and jump-start local economic development.

New Scotland has become a registered Climate Smart Community, showing its commitment to addressing and adapting to the risks that climate change brings. We have also been designated a Clean Energy Community for several high-impact actions the town has taken in reducing energy costs and investing in renewable energy projects. This designation has allowed the town to access grant opportunities to replace all town owned lighting fixtures in the town with light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs and installing an electric car-charging station at the town hall.

The town board is promoting clean and renewable energy by adopting a “unified solar permit” that helps cut through the red tape associated with approving solar farms, while maintaining adequate siting oversight.

The town board is also currently exploring whether to lease space on the old town landfill to a solar company to install enough solar power to provide electricity to over 200 homes, with an option for the town to purchase power directly generating sites. This has the twofold effect of allowing us to generate reliable, renewable energy right in our own community while providing another revenue source to the town.

The town board is also excited for the possibility of joining other municipalities to bulk purchase renewable energy for our residents through the Community Choice Aggregation program (see The Altamont Enterprise, Sept. 11, 2019 “Driving down homeowner costs: Community Choice Aggregation could significantly lower electricity bills”).

Here in New Scotland, we are demonstrating that promoting an environmentally friendly future and growing our economy are not mutually exclusive. We are fortunate to have an enterprising town board that is proactive in developing clean energy opportunities in the town that will help grow our local economy.

Re-elect Supervisor Doug LaGrange and town board member William Hennessey, and vote for town board candidate Bridgit Burke to keep this momentum going.

Dan Leinung

Feura Bush

Editor’s note: Dan Leinung is a New Scotland councilman.