This project arose from a shared commitment to speed up progress against climate change while making the Hudson Valley more prosperous, resilient and equitable.   We wanted to understand the real work involved to decarbonize the economy, build regenerative farming and forestry, direct significant resources into disadvantaged communities and achieve a just transition for the workforce that is currently dependent on the fossil fuel economy.

For that purpose, we considered three questions:

1. What will it take to meet the mandate of New York’s Climate Act?

2. Who needs to be involved?

3. What can we – the initial collaborators – do to build momentum?

Through this exploration, the core group have gathered enough insight to move into action mode.

Anchor Projects

While this Road Map has been in development, participants have already begun to take initiative to overcome barriers in policy, communication, and resources.  Examples include: 

• a collaboration between New Yorkers for Clean Power, Scenic Hudson, Clearwater and Ulster County Legislator Manna Jo Greene to train local planners in map analysis to identify renewable energy sites where there is political support and a willing property owner, and then to establish dialogue with the utilities to increase coordination of these local efforts with the utility’s planning for upgrades to the distribution grid so that projects are not delayed by grid limitations.  Over 100 local representatives have been trained; an initial group of sites has been identified, and dialogue with Central Hudson has begun.  In Ulster County specifically, a much more structured effort has begun, with all municipalities asked to identify sites that can contribute to the County’s goal of 70% renewable energy through local supply by 2030.  

• a collaboration between Sustainable Hudson Valley and the two library systems serving the Mid-Hudson Valley, training librarians on the practicalities of climate resilient buildings and properties, and supporting them in planning programs to engage their neighborhoods in creating rain gardens, cool roofs, microgrids, emergency communications systems and educational programming. 

Each of these collaborations has arisen through “what-if” conversations among unorthodox partners.  They illustrate how many organizations have the power to collaborate for scale, but do not consistently coordinate or think together about scalable impact.  One key to increasing strategic thinking for scalable results is bringing partners together outside silos.  Another is connecting local practitioners – be they Climate Smart Community volunteers or planning professionals – with the larger movement that has so many tools and success models to share, and can provide so much peer support.  Coordination, shared culture and common mental models do make a difference in accelerating the progress of organizations, be they tech startups, governments or social movements.  As the African proverb reminds us, “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.”  

What it will take is transformative change at a pace and scale that is very different from the current reality.  Incremental progress will not achieve the rapid, unprecedented changes in our technology and lifestyles that are needed to prevent runaway climate change.  A whole lot of people in leadership roles are going to need to set their sights on what 2030 and 2040 need to look like, and lead vigorously.  A whole lot more people are going to need to step into leadership roles.  The foremost thing that “we” behind this vision can do is to create a support and communications system for the work that is unfolding.  

The Climate Action Council’s Scoping Plan creates a policy framework to incentivize big changes and remove barriers. It will provide incentives, financing programs, technical assistance and education.  Policies like the CLCPA create markets and programs.  Education and outreach programs build support for new practices.  But policies and programs alone do not determine what people care about, understand and will act on.  Inspiration, social support, resources and tools, and strategic work to remove obstacles are key ingredients to achieve change that is transformative rather than incremental.  One channel for making these intangibles more accessible is a flexible network.  There is already an informal network of “climate solutionists” who collaborate when opportunities present themselves.  This includes local and county climate commissions. The region’s Council of Governments, the Hudson Valley Regional Council, provides an important platform for connecting among governments, as do the multi-county Metropolitan Planning Organizations that coordinate transportation plans. Regional organizations such as Sustainable Hudson Valley and Partners for Climate Action Hudson Valley bring valuable networks and strategic frameworks as well.  

However, there is no specific network dedicated to focusing on decarbonization, regeneration and resilience in response to the climate crisis.  To broaden the coordination and align around commitment to common goals,  the notion of an “impact network” should be explored as an option.  These flexible networks are often organized around a specific set of goals and strategies that can be flexibly implemented by members with limited formal governance. A worthy goal is equitably decarbonizing the Hudson Valley’s economy and building resilience in our communities, with specific visions for 2030, 2040 and beyond. 

Describing the value of impact networks, David Ehrlichman writes:

Impact networks provide value in many ways: they coordinate work among different actors and across organizations and silos without being controlling or directive; they are resilient to disruption, given their decentralized structures; they respond to urgent opportunities at a moment’s notice; and they integrate diverse perspectives to create new possibilities.  By strengthening connection and collaboration across divides, impact networks are an essential way of organizing to meet the complexity of our world.  

A promising approach is the Collective Impact Coalition. A major investment with documented payoff, the Collective Impact Coalition is an alignment of organizations that choose to focus on a common goal for an extended but specific period, working together  without losing autonomy.  In education, public health and safety, and other social concerns, Collective Impact Coalitions have demonstrated results that elude many organizations working with less coordination.  Two models up the road in Vermont, and a third in the Midwest,  illustrate what these coalitions can accomplish.

• The Vermont Energy Action Network brings together over 200 organizations working on building decarbonization, renewable power, sustainable transportation and related climate goals, including the primary utility Green Mountain Power.  Its mission is to meet the greenhouse gas reduction goals of that state’s climate law, with indicators of progress tying renewable energy expansion to economic and social equity benefits:

  • Significant reductions in fossil fuel use and GHG pollution from energy

  • Substantial increases in the share of our energy needs met via efficiency and renewables.

  • Growth in the number of clean energy jobs in Vermont

  • Vermonters becoming more energy-secure and resilient

  • A stronger and more just Vermont economy

  • An energy landscape that both benefits from and protects our natural resources and working lands.

  The Network’s staff generate data that highlight opportunities for action, such as the fact that 14% of Vermont’s drivers use 41% of the gasoline, leading to a program to help “gasoline super-users” go electric.  Data on decarbonization at the local level helps towns to track progress compared to their neighbors, and the Network’s annual progress report release is a widely-watched event. The Network raises funds to support short-term projects proposed by member organizations and approved by member vote at its annual meeting, encouraging both creativity and accountability.  

The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund was created by the state Legislature in 1995 to nurture the sustainable development of Vermont’s economy by nurturing Vermont-based industry clusters such as farm-to-plate, forest products and climate tech.  The organization helps businesses and their leaders, but also works with entire industries to strengthen value chains, identify and develop new markets, build work force and generally create the conditions for economic success of the industries connected with sustainable development.  VSJF’s funding is renewed periodically, and new goals are set, based on achieving its targeted performance metrics and demonstrating a continuing need. This type of accountability in organizations and projects is a key to the effectiveness of Collective Impact Networks. 

In the Great Lakes region, the RE-AMP Coalition was created by funders and environmental organizations in response to the region’s dependence on coal, working together to tackle the goal of cutting climate pollution from large power plants. Today, 130 nonprofits and foundations are collaborating toward the goal of equitably eliminating greenhouse gas pollution by 2050.  With the motto to “Think Systemically and Act Collaboratively,” RE-AMP began in 2005 with four working groups that analyzed drivers of change such as the market value of clean energy and the achievable levels of energy efficiency.  As a result of RE-AMP’s work, over 150 coal plants have been slated for retirement; six states have adopted energy efficiency standards and five have established renewable energy standards. Over $25 million has been raised and re-granted toward expanding clean energy options.

Underlying these effective coalitions are common principles of systems analysis, forging a common language and framework, and carrying out flexible strategic projects that change the underlying conditions to make their goals more achievable.  An analysis in Stanford Social Impact Review identifies five features of a successful Collective Impact Coalition:

• Common agenda

• Shared measurement systems

• Mutually reinforcing activities

• Continuous communication

• A backbone support organization. 

The action pathways identified  in this report could anchor such an agenda.  More work is needed on shared measurement systems.  The most active stakeholders in our process to date could undertake initial organization and planning to utilize this effective model  to achieve rapid decarbonization, regeneration and resilience in the Hudson Valley. 

Local government partnerships

Local governments are critical partners with visible operations that can demonstrate all the solutions we have identified.  New York’s Climate Smart and Clean Energy Communities Programs provide guidance and incentives for “high impact actions” guided by appointed committees in partnership with elected officials and staffs.  These programs are likely to evolve to bring communities forward on the state’s climate action timeline.  Coordination of the “high impact actions” among communities for more intentional peer to peer education may help to build markets for climate solution enterprises. For example, coordinated improvements to building codes to specify carbon absorbing building and structural materials could be instrumental in growing the market for local producers of these materials.  Appendix 4 provides a portal to these programs, with links to their guidance documents and examples of successful actions.

Local governments and communities can be an especially important driver of the transformation through the pace and nature of the actions they take.  The Hudson Valley is a statewide leader in participation in New York’s Climate Smart and Clean Energy Communities Programs, which provide incentives, recognition and technical assistance for climate action planning, clean energy initiatives and a range of other valuable activities.  Of the 100 Bronze certified communities, more than half are in the Hudson Valley. Of nine communities that have achieved the highest status statewide (Silver), five are in the Hudson Valley:  Kingston, Beacon, New Castle, Croton and Hastings-on-Hudson.  These communities have approached climate priorities in diverse ways.  They (and other leading communities) are a rich source of models to be replicated, potentially allowing for increasing momentum through more active knowledge-sharing.  Accelerated adoption of climate-friendly practices can be supported by working with cohorts of communities, as the Climate Action Planning Institute (CAPI) now does.  An ideal platform for implementing the strategies laid out here is a community- or county-wide Climate Action Plan which can work with agencies as well as community interests.   

A common theme among all these communities is strong leadership by top elected officials, volunteers who are knowledgeable and persistent, and well structured, participatory planning processes. 


Regional planning and coordination

Some of the major planning issues identified here  point to a need and opportunity for regional coordination among governments and others.  Four examples are transitioning the materials management system from linear to circular;  upgrading water management systems for conservation, efficiency and resilience; developing user-oriented, flexible transportation systems that get people comfortably and safely where they need to go; and coordinating economic development activities to take full advantage of the benefits of climate action to the regional economy.   

The materials management system is driven by state, county and local government policies and programs, as well as by higher level policies and by markets. The Hudson Valley ships materials far and wide, driven by many policy and economic factors.  To address the 12% of our carbon footprint that’s connected to waste management, we must shift from a linear to a circular economy, and develop systems to reclaim, reuse and remanufacture a wide array of materials.  In some cases, this requires infrastructure that is not presently available (e.g. for processing high-volume, bulky or hazardous materials).  This is an opportunity for multi-county collaboration.  In many cases, however, it mainly requires commitment to change course and invest in recycling-based industries as a local or county economic development opportunity.  Pursuing business development strategies in this space is a major area for economic development collaboration among counties.  

Managing water supplies under the drought, storm and flood conditions that are increasingly common, presents numerous opportunities for county and multi-county leadership, for example:

• To fund and support watershed planning, and design programs to expand green infrastructure for climate resilience;

• To plan and upgrade drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure;

• To develop water conservation and efficiency programs, and take stronger steps to prevent new development in areas that are vulnerable to floods or have water supply constraints.

Water managemTransportation planning is organized by multi-county Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) that operate by stringent federal and state rules but still benefit from innovative solutions that most likely will come from diverse and unexpected sources. 

Finally, regional coordination is obviously a strength in terms of economic development initiatives to scale up climate tech applications.  The Climate Smart and Clean Energy Communities of the Hudson Valley are ready markets for new technologies emerging from universities from Columbia to RPI, incubators and accelerators in the region, and innovative companies that are moving into growth mode.  While these specific local markets may be small and irregular in their receptivity to new tech, the region is big enough to offer a wealth of demonstration sites and markets for scaling innovative climate solutions that have passed the proof-of-concept stage.  Regional coordination allows the rapid spread of innovative, effective local policies. 

Meaningful measures

The Hudson Valley’s climate transformation will progress most smoothly if there is ongoing measurement of progress by some set of agreed-upon metrics.  Easily tracked data include:

• installed renewable energy capacity by county (tracked by NYSERDA and available in an online dashboard that is updated quarterly);

• building decarbonization projects financed or reimbursed (tracked by NYSERDA in its annual reports);

• electric vehicles registered including passenger cars, transit and fleet vehicles (tracked by the Department of Motor Vehicles), and infrastructure installed (shown on online apps and periodically monitored by Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress);

• waste diversion by materials category (reported to DEC by counties annually);

• percentage of farms that have adopted certain regenerative practices such as cover cropping and low-till methods, which are tracked by the Agricultural Census. 

New York, as a whole, has committed to transforming its energy and transportation systems and economy as a whole.  The state will guide its policy evaluation with greenhouse gas emissions inventories every five years, as well as with reporting by key agencies on clean technology deployment year by year.  NYSERDA currently  tracks progress in renewable energy installations by county, and the Scoping Plan calls for creation of greenhouse gas emissions dashboard for municipalities.  

Local Climate Action Plans are taking a variety of approaches to baseline measurements and tracking of progress.  The Hudson Valley Regional Council and Capital Region Planning Federation have updated the state’s greenhouse gas emissions inventories for use by communities as baselines for planning.  Ulster and Dutchess Counties have worked with local governments to conduct thorough greenhouse gas emissions inventories to serve as the foundation of Climate Action Plans.  Some municipalities have gone further – such as Philipstown, which has set its course to deep cuts in Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (those involved in producing as well as using a technology).  These inventories can be labor-intensive, and are best undertaken within a particular clear local strategy for setting reduction priorities.  And there are alternatives to new data collection, at least for purposes of estimation:

REGGIE is a tool for estimating local greenhouse gas emissions associated with any zip code, using national databases.  It was created by a public-private partnership led by CURE 100 (Communities United to Reduce Emissions), and now provides these estimates using a zip-code-lookup function for any user who is licensed (at no cost).  This open source software was created explicitly to help communities estimate emissions closely enough to make thoughtful reduction plans without the labor intensiveness of a formal inventory.  

• The City of Ithaca has gone farther, developing a ten year building decarbonization program that simply targets 1/10 of the building stock each year without any baseline data.  Their logic:  you don’t really need to measure what you intend to zero out. 

Of course, metrics are valuable to monitor progress on decarbonization and capture benefits from emissions reduction incentives.  With the anticipated cap-and-invest program called for in the Scoping Plan, metrics will be important for compliance and also for gleaning economic benefits.  A regionally coordinated process to agree on exploration of goals, baseline data and monitoring could be quite valuable as a foundation for annual evaluation and course-correction. 

How do we pay for it?

There are numerous public and private funding sources available to begin scaling up the work to be done, and ways to make some of the necessary efforts profitable.  

• Tax incentives and direct payments through the Inflation Reduction Act sharply reduce the up-front costs of heat pumps, solar panels, chargers, batteries and electric vehicles for consumers.

• The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Fund of $20B nationally has created a low-cost lending pool especially for commercial, multifamily and other complex building decarbonization projects.  

• Additional funding models, such as pathways for municipal bonding authority to accomplish the public good of decarbonization, are also being developed. 

• Services including renewable energy supply and energy storage microgrids are also, increasingly, being made available with up-front financing.  

Collaboration will be key for governments, businesses and NGOs navigating this opportunity space in order to minimize competition. Collaboration – and aggregation – are also proving valuable in channeling private sector resources into rapid building decarbonization and renewable energy campaigns by reducing transaction costs for companies.  As the industries associated with climate action coalesce and increase in scale, the basic work to be done may rely less on  incentive and subsidy programs, and deserve increasing support as economic development.  NYSERDA has clearly taken this approach with renewable energy and efficiency industries.  But it applies more widely, including reuse- and recycling based industries in the circular economy, and the enormous opportunity represented by a sustainable bioeconomy.   

Taking action:  Three ways to participate

We hope this vision and analysis has sparked ideas and commitment by readers to take more ambitious action.  There are at least three clear ways to be part of advancing this vision by working with us directly.  These can be adopted by local governments, organizations, institutions, workplaces and others:

• Commit to the critical path for decarbonization and regeneration that we have laid out here (or a variation that is more meaningful to you).   Whatever the commitment, make a plan, make it known and get to work.

• Commit to a specific project among those highlighted here, or another that you see as vital.

• Join our learning and action network by contacting Roadmap@sustainhv.org