Westchester Action Plan, 2008 - Westchester County Government

As a community, we need to respond to the problems and rally others to do the same. We can
show leadership. We can do our share to reduce the emission of “greenhouse gases” (GHGs)
and inspire others to do the same. The challenge is urgent and daunting but it is not
overwhelming. Meeting it will improve our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren.
Acting to prevent the most serious consequences of global warming by dramatically reducing
GHG emissions and planning to adapt for its impacts will mean refocusing upon sustainable
development: doing better what we have been doing for some time.
Recognizing this reality, County Executive Andy Spano is calling on all of us in Westchester
to take up this critical challenge of our times. He is calling for county government,
municipal governments, businesses, educational institutions, and households to all take on
the mantle of leadership and work together to solve this problem.
Vision
“Collectively…we can make a difference.” – Andy Spano.
So as to forge a shared, united vision across the
Community of Westchester, the County Executive
recognized that the whole community must be fully
engaged in addressing this pressing issue. To start this
process, he convened the Global Warming Task Force
(Task Force). The Task Force was drawn from
formidable talent of public officials, subject experts,
educators, and business leaders in Westchester.
The County Executive charged the Task Force with
creating an Action Plan for this key moment in county
history, to catalyze change and help achieve sensible
goals for GHG emission reductions and sustainable
To find out more about the Global
Warming Task Force and its
operations see Attachment 2:
County Executive’s
Initiative
To find out more about the
County Inventory and reduction
goal see Attachment 3:
GHG Inventory and
Reduction Goal
development and to help realize his vision of a community fully engaged in resolving these
critical issues and together creating a sustainable future.
The Task Force considered the 2005 countywide GHG footprint of approximately
13,140,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) * and relying on the most recent climate science,
set a goal to reduce GHGs by 20% below the 2005 base year by 2015. By 2050, the Task
Force set a goal of an 80% reduction in total GHG emissions below the base year. With
these reductions, the Community of Westchester can contribute its part so as to avoid the
worst-case scenarios for climate change.
* Includes other GHGs converted into their global warming equivalent of CO 2 .
Westchester Action Plan for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, 2008 2