For Elected County positions and the 17 Legislative Districts

CCAA designed this survey to help voters in CNY learn the position of local candidates on the issue of climate change. While individual actions are important, public policy on the local level is absolutely necessary given the magnitude of the challenge. There is a lot that can be done from installing charging stations at municipal buildings to becoming a Climate Smart Community.

Climate Change is happening now and it’s happening here. The Syracuse Post Standard recently ran a number of articles on the impact of climate change on CNY. From toxic alga blooms impacting drinking water for Onondaga County to losing part of our cultural heritage – the maple sugar industry to increased flooding and new, local heat records climate change is increasingly affecting the quality of life in CNY.

View responses below (Towns on list are approximate). Bold names have responded. (Due to oversight on CCAA’s part, some candidates did not receive surveys until early-mid October. We are posting their responses as we get them. Including: Gary Lavine, Daniel Carrols, Kevin Kuehner, Gina Iliev, Reginald Bradwell, and Courtney Hills). If you have any questions contact cc.awareness.action@gmail.com

*Districts do not always align with town borders, if you are not sure which district is yours check the map below. Or see the original maps here.

Onondaga County Legislative Distrcits Map

Why did we put this survey together?

The overwhelming majority of scientists from a variety of disciplines studying the impact of climate change are urging us to take measures to reduce greenhouse gases. We have solutions to limit emissions, but we need to vote for people who will put them into action at all levels of government.

Increasing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere from year to year has resulted in a increasingly hostile environment to life as we know it. Signs such as worldwide melting of glaciers, rising sea levels, warming and increasing acidification of ocean waters, worldwide coral reef die off, new heat records… are all signs that the earth’s systems are changing rapidly.

In Central New York we are seeing signs of that change and the Post Standard ran these articles discussing the local impact of climate change: