| Miles | |
| The science behind climate change goes back to 1862 when John Tyndall discovered that CO2 in the atmosphere radiates heat back to the earth and causes the earth to heat. In 1896 a Swedish scientist, Svante Arrhenius, was the first to claim that the burning of fossil fuel would lead to enhanced global warming. Do you accept the scientific consensus behind climate change? | |
| Bill Kinne (D) | Yes |
| Miles Bottril (R) | Yes |
| Misse Ross (W) | Yes. |
| Since the industrial Revolution, the CO2 concentration has increased from 280 parts per million to 415 PPM today. Do you accept the scientific consensus this increase in CO2 is primarily due to burning fossil fuels? | |
| Bill Kinne (D) | Yes |
| Miles Bottril (R) | Yes |
| Misse Ross (W) | Yes. |
| Will you commit to expanding the County’s Climate Action Plan to include community-wide emissions and not just emissions from County operations? For emissions that are difficult to eliminate entirely, such as process emissions from waste water treatment plants, the County can implement other mitigation measures such as tree planting. | |
| Bill Kinne (D) | Yes |
| Miles Bottril (R) | Not Sure. I support tree planting but need more information about the proposed expansion. |
| Misse Ross (W) | Yes I would actually like to see us go farther than planting trees. I would like the county to look into strategically placed rooftop gardens. They provide many benefits to communities. They reduce pollution and gases which improves air quality. They help to insulate buildings resulting in less energy use. They absorb rainwater. They can also be used as centers of urban agriculture. We are in a climate crisis and should try to make use of every tool available to fight it. |
| Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan recently signed an executive order committing to 100% renewable energy by 2030. The Dewitt Town Board unanimously approved a resolution pledging to work towards a goal of achieving 10% regionally sourced, clean energy consumption for municipal operations by 2020 and 100% regionally sourced energy across all sectors by 2035. Do you support the concept of committing to 100% renewable energy for all municipal operations for Onondaga County? | |
| Bill Kinne (D) | Not Sure. Need more information. |
| Miles Bottril (R) | Yes. However, I don’t believe in artificial dates. We can and should work to do this as soon as possible and commit to a workable plan, I just don’t like dates because of what we don’t know. |
| Misse Ross (W) | Yes. Onondaga County should set a clear goal date on this and create a timeline that includes the actions they intend to take to achieve this. |
| Do you support installing electric vehicle charging stations at County-owned buildings and facilities, for use by County employees and by the general public ( for example Rosamond Gifford Zoo, NBT Bank Stadium, Regional Market, Western Shore Loop the Lake parking lot, Long Branch Park parking lot, Jamesville Beach parking lot, County libraries…). | |
| Bill Kinne (D) | Yes. |
| Miles Bottril (R) | Yes. Someone needs to take the lead on this, if the Federal government and the State won’t, we should. |
| Misse Ross (W) | Yes. We should do everything possible to encourage our citizens to make climate conscious decisions. Increasing accessibility to charging stations is one small way we can do that. |
| Do you support passage of a local law to join the Energy Improvement Corporation (EIC), ( www.energizeny.org/commercial/eny-open-pace ) a statewide local development corporation that administers the “Open C-PACE” (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) finance program to make it easier for commercial buildings to make their property more efficient? | |
| Bill Kinne (D) | Yes. |
| Miles Bottril (R) | Not Sure. Need more information. |
| Misse Ross (W) | Yes. We should take every opportunity available to reduce our carbon footprint. Energy costs are high, especially for businesses. Programs like this allow us to help businesses reduce their costs and moves our community towards our climate goals. |
| Next year the Climate and Community Investment Act in NYS will probably be introduced that will establish a carbon fee/tax of $35 per ton of carbon-dioxide equivalent and would raise $7 billion per year for clean energy investments. Do you support the concept of a fee on carbon dioxide? | |
| Bill Kinne (D) | Yes. |
| Miles Bottril (R) | (no response) |
| Misse Ross (W) | Yes |
| Do you support enacting a requirement that all new County buildings reach “net zero energy” status? | |
| Bill Kinne (D) | Yes. |
| Miles Bottril (R) | Not Sure. Need more information. |
| Misse Ross (W) | Yes. |
| Do you support earning certification for Onondaga County as a Climate Smart Community from the NYS DEC ( https://climatesmart.ny.gov/ )? | |
| Bill Kinne (D) | Yes |
| Miles Bottril (R) | Yes |
| Misse Ross (W) | Yes. Addressing climate change needs to a collaborative effort. Earning this certification will make it easier to share information and be part of the larger combined statewide effort. |
| Other actions you support to mitigate the effects of climate change in CNY. | |
| Bill Kinne (D) | I would like our county to help the city and all communities in our county to become more walk-able and bicycle friendly. In addition I would like us to make a more concerted effort to plant more trees. |
| Miles Bottril (R) | (no response) |
| Misse Ross (W) | Onondaga County should expand public transportation and encourage use of it. The I-81 viaduct project gives us an opportunity to request mitigation funds from the state for an expansion of public transportation. I would like to see us move towards becoming a community where you don’t need a car. We need to look at long term lifestyle changes to really address the climate crisis. |