Sleepy Hollow’s Climate Action Plan Comes Together

To the editor:

At the August 6th work session of the Sleepy Hollow Board of Trustees, the discussion was interrupted by a crashing and banging outside the window. What could it be? After pausing the meeting, the Mayor concluded it must be the sound of a sudden downpour — perhaps even hail? —overwhelming the gutters and splashing on surfaces below.

The downpour was not on the agenda, but it signaled the importance of a new Climate Action Plan that is being developed by the Village Climate Action Task Force. I was impressed with what they presented about the plan. It provides an analysis of Sleepy Hollow’s vulnerabilities and specific actions the village might take to adapt and mitigate the threats to our village. There is a user-friendly Climate Action Hub to help people learn more about what’s being proposed. Especially impressive are the visuals, including interactive maps of specific locations in Sleepy Hollow that are likely to be most impacted. Do you live, or work, in one of those locations? Check it out:

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0a89c88950af456bb56f57f470c0adc2

Sleepy Hollow is only one village on the map of New York State, but we are taking urgent action on the threats of climate change. I wish Gov. Hochul would follow our lead. She seems to have dropped the Earth for political expediency — in particular by sitting on the sidelines while the NY HEAT (Home Energy Affordable Transition) Act was embargoed in the Assembly without a vote (it would have passed). NY HEAT would direct a decades-long transition away from gas and oil heating to electricity from renewables. Why is it that the long-term, most important, most economically helpful projects get put on ice, while the world burns? Or drowns?

But getting back to the Sleepy Hollow meeting. Perhaps stirred by the torrent of water pouring down outside, the Trustees urged that the final Climate Action Plan include a list of priority actions, with estimated costs and potential sources of funding, to enable the Board to include climate actions in next year’s budget, and perhaps even try to find money in 2024. I left feeling optimistic that things were actually getting done.

With increasingly frequent violent weather events already a reality, and worse expected in the future, this plan will provide Sleepy Hollow with options to mitigate the impacts of climate change on our community. I hope that our Governor will follow our lead and stop deferring or postponing her own climate responsibilities.