Dan's Papers - May 1, 2009 -

North Forkresidents are getting behind the growing green trend. This weekend dozens of farmers, residents and environmental advocates packed a Town Hall meeting in Cutchogue to learn about a major energy and global warming bill being debated in Congress.

The basement of the Cutchogue Presbyterian Church was jammed on the sunny Saturday afternoon to hear about the bill. People wanted to hear what the new legislation would mean locally and to see what's being done on the East End to make renewable and alternative energy more accessible. "The most important thing is to show people how attainable alternative energy is," Joseph Petrauskas of Cutchogue told me. He and his wife Ann have solar panels on their home and are now looking into a Geothermal heating and cooling system, as well as a wind turbine for their house. "It's phenomenal to get a check from LIPA once a year."

Here's a little about the bill. Last week lawmakers in Washington used Earth Week as the back drop to debate the Clean Energy and Security Act. The bill was drafted by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, and Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who co-chair the energy and environment subcommittee. It would impose a mandatory limit on greenhouse gases and give electric utilities pollution allowances. Many environmentalists want all emissions allowances to be auctioned off under a cap-and-trade system. Most people at the weekend meeting support taxing big businesses on their carbon output. The Waxman-Markey bill aims to cut U.S. emissions to 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and to 83 percent below by 2050.

Southampton Congressman Tim Bishop was also at the meeting in Cutchogue. He said one idea is to have revenue generated from the cap and trade system fund Medicare and Social Security. "We clearly have to attack carbon" Bishop told the crowd. He said the House could pass a version of the bill as soon as this week. But he's not so sure it would pass the Senate, where the legislation would ultimately be finalized. Here's what Bishop said about cap-and-trade theory, "In the wake of AIG and the bank failures we are all nervous about giving Wall Street something else to trade because there is potential for manipulation."

Morgan Goodwin of Cutchogue said, "Fixing our energy crisis is creating green jobs, and they are secure and they are local". He's a Solar Thermal Technician for a company called Eastern Energy Systems who helped put the event together. There is good deal of alternative energy work already underway on the North Fork. Right now there are a handful of wind turbines, which you may have seen driving through Southold or Riverhead. Gary Minnick, CEO of Go Solar based in Aquebogue, says his problem is not a shortage of people looking to convet to solar or geothermal systems, but a lack of educated and experienced installers. He says his business has doubled since last year, with at least one customer a week switching to solar water heating.

Both Southold and Riverhead towns have taken progressive steps on the alternative and renewable energy front. They both have drawn up codes for farmers to install wind turbines on their land. "The problem is the code eliminates a high percentage of us from the start," says Dave Page Co-owner of Shinn Vineyards in Mattituck. The current code in Southold requires you to have a farm of at least 7 acres to install a wind turbine, and it needs to be setback 300 feet from any property line. Shinn already runs its B&B and farmhouse off solar power. But now they're trying to become the first winery on the east coast to power their vineyard with wind. There are several federal grant and tax incentive programs that make wind energy more affordable. Mr. Page tells me LIPA is even offering him a fifty thousand dollar rebate when his wind project is complete. But Mr. Page says because his farm doesn't fit the criteria, he has to file for a variance. He says it could be months or even years before his wind project gets the green light from the town. Homeowners Joseph and Ann Petrauskas of Cutchogue are hoping to get the Town of Southold to draw up code that would allow them to legally install a wind turbine on their property. Right now that code doesn't exist in either town.

So where do we stand now with green collar jobs on Long Island? The federal stimulus package allots $90 billion dollars for renewable energy and energy conservation efforts across the country. Out of that money Nassau and Suffolk Counties will receive about $24 million over the next year to fund "energy effective activities," according to Congressman Bishop. Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell says they have taken important steps toward becoming a more energy efficient town. Southold plans to install solar panels on the old Peconic School on Peconic Lane. They also plan to replace the town's existing cars with a fleet of hybrid vehicles. Mr. Russell also told me Southold is applying for grants to build a wind turbine at the Peconic School recreational center.

It seems to me our access to alternative and renewable energy lies heavily in the hands of our lawmakers. But I think there are simple things we can do in our everyday lives to help control our climate on a smaller scale. And for many people on the North Fork. Bob Dylan had it right, "the answer my friend, is blown' in the wind".