Source: ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability; Design: Amy Unikewicz/JellyFever

Why is this Important?
Greenhouse Gas Emissions are widely accepted as the main factors contributing to global climate change.  A 2010 report, by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, predicts that sea levels around Long Island could increase by 1 ½ -4 feet within the next 70 years if the rate of climate change is not slowed. Long Island has 1,180 miles of shoreline.  Sea level rise to this extent would threaten the Island’s beaches, homes, sewage systems and overall economy.  To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, climatologists conclude that global greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced 85% by 2050.

How are we doing?
With nearly 1200 miles of shoreline, Long Island is uniquely disposed to the impacts of climate change.  In 2009, then Governor Patterson set a state-wide goal of reducing the greenhouse gas emission associated with climate change 45% by 2015.  This would be achieved through a combination of efficiency measures and renewable energy generation.

In order to track these efforts, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability released a comprehensive inventory of Long Island's greenhouse gas emissions in 2010.  The inventory showed that, in 2005, Long Island emitted some 38,290,752 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The largest emitting sectors on the Island were residential (39%), transportation (31%) and commercial/industrial (26%).  The inventory will be updated in 2012 to provide the Island with a means for tracking its emissions reductions efforts moving forward.

By far the largest driver of the Island’s emissions is the electricity used by its residents and businesses.  Instead of reducing electricity consumption, data from the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) shows that residential, commercial and industrial electricity usage increased 27% over the past decade (2000-2010) while the Island’s population increased a mere 3%.  Moreover, LIPA's current Electric Resource Plan shows that the utility anticipates the need for an additional 2301 MW of electricity to meet peak demand in 2028.  This represents a 44.76% increase over the utility’s current needs.  To help reduce this need, LIPA has instituted an aggressive efficiency program that aims to reduce anticipated consumption by 500MW over the next decade.  As ambitious as the program is, it would only slow the increase in demand, not decrease the use of electricity on the Island.            
                
As for generating energy with renewable resources, Long Island lags far behind the Governor’s goals.  Although the Island has over 2000 rooftop solar units and a recently installed 50MW solar farm, only 4% of the Island’s electricity is currently generated by renewables.  Though the fuel used to provide the Island with electricity changes on a daily basis, over the past decade more than 85% of the Island’s electricity has been generated by fossil fuels, either oil or natural gas.  Smaller percentages of our electricity are provided by off-Island hydro (7% in 2008) and nuclear (4% in 2008) resources and about 2% from waste-to-energy facilities on the Island.

If Long Island is going to avoid the worst impacts of climate change and make progress toward meeting the Governor’s goals, it will have to embark on a multi-sector efficiency campaign and begin to install more utility-scale renewable energy resources.