FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Betta Broad
Catskill Mountainkeeper
Program Manager, Energy & Climate
(607) 222-3678  or  [email protected]

 Catskill Mountainkeeper Launches www.RenewableNY.com to Help New Yorkers Achieve Energy Independence

July 3, 2014 -- This July 4th, Catskill Mountainkeeper is celebrating Independence Day with the launch of its new web resource, RenewableNY.com, which will help New Yorkers achieve energy independence by transitioning to safe, clean, and now affordable renewable energy. 

It is becoming increasingly important for communities to shift their energy consumption towards sources that are efficient, domestic, and renewable.  Renewable energy technologies, such as solar, wind and geothermal, generate electricity with a minimum of pollution and carbon emissions and have the potential to significantly reduce our reliance on natural gas, coal and other fossil fuels.  They turn the ever-present energy around us into usable forms without producing pollution or global warming emissions.  Renewable energy technologies are clean, affordable, domestically available, and the supply is effectively infinite.  

As we celebrate Independance Day, we are thankful for our liberty, our freedom and our inalienable rights as citizens. In the United States, we are fortunate to have the right to vote and the right to participate in the political process.  But our freedom of choice doesn't end at the polls; we can vote with our actions every day. For New Yorkers that want to make practical choices when it comes to energy consumption, RenewableNY.com offers actionable steps you can take today. 

"New York is once again poised to lead the nation, in this case in the field of renewable energy. We have the technology, we have the expertise, and, I believe, the passion to transition off of our addiction to dirty fossil fuels. RenewableNY is critical to making that transition take place," says Mountainkeeper Executive Director Ramsay Adams.

 On the website you will find:

• Clear, concise steps you can take to transition your home or business to renewable energy using solar, small-scale wind and geothermal energy
• Comprehensive listings of renewable energy resources for New Yorkers
• Actions that can be taken by citizens, municipalities, schools, businesses, communities and investors to transition to renewables
• Information about how your community or organization can partner with RenewableNY onrenewable projects and solar campaigns

In addition to the web resource, Renewable NY has been working with communities to advance on-the-ground projects, such as solar bulk-purchasing campaigns and community wind farms. 

One example is Southern Tier Solar Works, a community solar bulk-purchasing initiative of the Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition in partnership with the Susquehanna Group of the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Catskill Mountainkeeper's Renewable NY. Southern Tier Solar Works incentivizes the purchase of residential and small business solar installations through bulk-purchasing campaigns. By aggregating purchasing within a community, these campaigns allow consumers to purchase solar installations at a significant cost savings.  Southern Tier Solar Works is designed to educate the public, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create economic growth in the renewable energy sector.  

 To learn more about how New York can work towards a clean, smart, renewable future, visit www.renewableny.com and join a growing number of New Yorkers who believe a renewable energy future is possible.