Letters

I read your article about the Town of East Hampton’s Renewable Energy Roadmap with interest, as a former member of the town’s Energy and Sustainability Committee.

Sadly, the town has taken no real steps to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions profile since it made a pledge to completely eliminate them a decade ago. More importantly, its most recent sustainability report from earlier this year states that, in fact, it now produces more emissions than when it made this highly unrealistic pledge.

This is unfortunate, because there are things the town could do that would not only lower emissions but could actually save taxpayers money or generate new revenue. The most obvious is to finally put solar on all of the appropriate town-owned buildings or land.

The New York Power Authority provided a plan for solar on buildings five years ago, and yet only one small political patronage project has been done. The town has talked about providing land for community solar projects in the past, which could not only generate significant revenue to the town from leasing land but also provide electric savings (10 percent) for both residents and commercial operators. Perhaps 60 of the 90 acres that have been leased to the gun club for a pittance for decades would be a good place to start, while still allowing for a gun club to exist with better restriction and rules?

I’ve suggested for over four years now that the town carve out a small percentage of the Community Preservation Fund to subsidize local residents making investments in residential solar, heat pumps and electric vehicles, just as the town has already done for water quality projects. This could create the source of several million dollars a year for these much-needed investments.

Instead, what is the town talking about doing? Their experts have suggested that the town could simply use the $5 million that will be paid by the offshore wind farm over the next five years to purchase carbon offset credits to supposedly achieve the same goal.

As someone who warned the town against the use of carbon offsets seven years ago when they were first suggested by consultants, it is reassuring that so many think tanks, universities or environmental analysts have come out in the past year to state that these types of investments are most often just a waste of money.

The Town of East Hampton should not use $5 million to greenwash its way to an emission reduction goal but finally start spending its own capital in a way that truly reduces emissions.

For a town that is so vulnerable to climate change, the time for talk should be over and meaningful action must finally be taken.

Brad Brooks, CFA

Springs