| Tony Malavenda (D) | Ryan McMahon (R) |
| 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? | |
| Yes. My answer is yes, of course. I interpret this question as a political one, rather than a question of science. The fact that it even has to be raised–and I understand that it must– is disconcerting and tragic. | 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? | |
| Yes. I do because there is and has been a clear and dominant consensus in the scientific community, Regardless, what is immutable is that burning fossil fuels creates CO2 so any prudent approach to climate change has to include a reduction in the use of fossil fuels. | 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. | |
| Yes. I believe that the goals and objectives of any county wide action plan should be directed to the County at large, not just county government or government facilities. However, the implementation of regulations to achieve these goals must be appropriate to the constituency to which they apply. | Yes – The CAP is set at 25% over 25 years, but I would like to see us meet that goal sooner and move the needle. Just as how we approached Save the Rain, reaching 95% capture when only 85% was required by law. We need to keep advancing both in how we deliver services as well as how we get our energy needs met. |
| 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? | |
| Yes. I applaud the Town of Dewitt for their strong leadership on this issue and would look to emulate it. It is important to set clear goals that will influence our actions going forward and ensure that the environment is top of mind. I also heartily accept the proposition that clean energy provides an excellent opportunity for economic development, that our region sorely needs and an opportunity for a “win-win” in Onondaga County. | Not at any cost. While I fully support advancing renewable energy for Onondaga County, we need to be smart with tax dollars and that means waiting until the renewable energy market is more competitive with the traditional energy supplies. With that said, we have already made substantial investments in the area of solar energy and we are constantly looking at ways to expand upon that. |
| 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…). | |
| Yes. The coming EV wave us upon us and it seems only logical to prepare for it. | Yes. In fact, as County Executive I have already overseen the installation of EV stations at Beaver Lake Nature Center. The Rosamond Gifford Zoo also has them as well as the OnCenter Parking lot. All of these projects have happened during my time with Onondaga County and I was and continue to be proud to support them |
| 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? | |
| Yes. Truth be told, I was unaware of the C-Pace program until recently. Given my current understanding of the program I can not see any reason not to support it. I suspect that this program, by facilitation energy upgrades to existing buildings, may catalyze other building improvements, if coupled with incentives to improve decaying structures, such as facade grants, that would reduce blight. | Yes. |
| 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? | |
| Yes. Of course, however, it does depend on substantially on what the fee is, how much and how it is applied. One concern is that such fees may be terribly regressive and fall on the poorest among us. Still I believe that investing in clean energy is the future, not just environmentally, but economically a well, if we want our region to be competitive over the next century. I like the idea of generating a pool of funds for clean energy investment. However, we must be vigilant to assure that these fees really do go towards clean energy investments, rather than to the general fund. Yes. | This is an issue for Congress and the Senate. I am focused on issues which impact us here in Onondaga County like getting contaminated vacant properties into the hands of responsible developers that will clean up the sites and improve our community. |
| Do you support enacting a requirement that all new County buildings reach “net zero energy” status? | |
| Not sure. Net zero is a noble goal, that I endorse. However, I checked “not sure” because the details and characteristics of each project are important and may require something short of an absolute to achieve the best outcome. Often, well intentioned legislation leads to unanticipated outcomes. For example, I can imagine constructing a building that falls just short of net zero, yet yields tremendous clean energy benefits. In such cases construction might be a better alternative than no construction at all. | Again, not at “any cost”. The technology needs to show a mid-term return on investment meaning a savings equal to the difference between the comparable product and the net-zero product needs to be realized in 5-10 years. The same is true with our energy purchases, we need to be able to show the taxpayers that we are being responsible, both environmentally and fiscally, with their hard earned tax dollars. I won’t commit to bottomless spending. |
| Do you support earning certification for Onondaga County as a Climate Smart Community from the NYS DEC ( https://climatesmart.ny.gov/ )? | |
| Yes. Absolutely, particularly given the potential for DEC grant monies. We should be committed to achieving full certification. Our peer Counties are moving in this direction and so should we. Yes. | Yes – Onondaga County is only a few points off and we are working diligently to try and find projects that will get us over the top. I would like to see this goal fulfilled by the end of 2020. |
| Other actions you support to mitigate the effects of climate change in CNY. | |
| Construction of a new, $70,000,000.00 water plant is being discussed for Skaneateles lake, due to the frequent algae blooms. I would support an engineering study to determine if that money– or hopefully a fraction of it– would be better used to pay farmers to rebuild hedgerows and other natural structures to deter run-off and provide greater incentives to grow organic product using less or no petroleum based fertilizers. Drainage ditches may also be re-designed to slow run-off. Finally, development along the lakeshore has contributed to the problem, so I would consider a carrot and stick approach to minimizing the fertilizers used on the expansive lawns along the lake shore and improving septic systems in the area so that they work more effectively. In other words, I’d prefer to address the problem, not the symptom and have a lake free of algae blooms, rather than accepting them as inevitable. | Advancing opportunities for alternatives to using fossil fuel burning cars through the investment in off-road trails. In the next year there will be an additional 3 miles of trails which will interconnect the Loop the Lake Trail with the Syracuse Creek Walk. Soon enough, you will be able to ride on a bike or walk, from Camillus to DeWitt on a dedicated trail system that splices together what was once a patch work of stand-alone trails into a comprehensive system. People have shown that given the opportunity, they would like to bike to work or just fit non-motorized travel into their daily routines. These trails build on that momentum. |