SARANAC LAKE — An official with the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) has been named to New York’s climate justice working group. Jerrod Bley, ANCA’s clean-energy program director, is one of three individuals from rural communities to be named to the panel. The group will help guide the implementation of New York’s new Climate Leadership […]
SARANAC LAKE — An official with the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) has been named to New York’s climate justice working group.
Jerrod Bley, ANCA’s clean-energy program director, is one of three individuals from rural communities to be named to the panel.
The group will help guide the implementation of New York’s new Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), ANCA said in an Aug. 5 news release.
As part of New York’s efforts to address environmental justice and support disadvantaged communities throughout its clean-energy transition process, the New York Department of Conservation (NYSDEC) has announced 13 members of the working group, which includes nine community representatives.
“I am honored and humbled to serve with this group of clean-energy experts and community leaders,” Bley said in the release. “I will do my best to represent the people who are touched by this complex and salient issue here in the North Country and throughout the state.”
Bley has worked in the energy industry for more than 15 years. He began his career with an engineering unit in the U.S. Marine Corps and gained experience installing solar photovoltaic (PV), solar thermal and small wind systems in Nebraska and Montana.
Prior to joining ANCA in July 2019, Bley served as a program coordinator and environmental health and safety instructor.
He credits much of his insight and appreciation for the challenges facing rural communities to his upbringing on a working farm in Ohio and his years working in the Montana Weatherization Assistance Program through Montana State University Extension, where he worked with low-to moderate-income and Indigenous communities.
Bley says he envisions a future structured on “safe, reliable” clean-energy generation that “benefits all sectors and populations,” per the ANCA release.
“This opportunity comes at a pivotal time and place, where we can shape a clean energy future that addresses the most pressing issues of our day,” Bley said. “We are currently facing multiple crises that must be considered in restructuring the energy sector. The COVID pandemic, racial inequity and global climate disruption all come with challenges that disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities. I look forward to working with other group members and State leaders to implement clean energy initiatives centered on diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
The working group will support the CLCPA’s New York State Climate Action Council, which is co-chaired by NYSDEC Commissioner Basil Seggos and Doreen Harris, acting president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), in implementing goals set forth through the 2019 climate act.
The CLCPA requires the state to establish a carbon-free electricity system by 2040 and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The new law will drive investment in clean-energy options such as wind, solar, energy efficiency, vehicle electrification, and energy storage, per ANCA.
ANCA says it is an independent nonprofit organization working to “build dynamic local economies that sustain thriving communities” in Northern New York. Since 1955, it has leveraged the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars into key sectors that drive sustainable local economic development.