Over 150 Participants, Over 35 Electric Vehicles Joined in
New Paltz Zero Emissions Parade (ZEP) and Green Vendor Fair
New Paltz, NY: On Saturday September 18th 2018, a line of 28 electric cars rolled down Main Street New Paltz in “the quietest parade you’ve ever heard,” Zero Emissions Parade Grand Marshall Holly Shader commented, referring to the nearly silent movement of cars that don’t run on gasoline or diesel. More EVs, including e-bikes and an e-scooter, joined in the three-hour Green Vendor Fair after the parade. The parade drew 150 participants including dancers from the New Paltz Dance Team, elected officials, families with children, people of all ages on bicycles and on foot, and the Tin Horn Uprising marching brass band.
“New York State has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, and that’s not enough,” said Jen Metzger, Rosendale Councilwoman and co-founder of Citizens for Local Power, striking a tone of urgency for the Zero Emissions Parade that was echoed throughout the day. Metzger’s all-electric Chevy Bolt was one of the electric cars participating in the parade.
“With renewable energy and electrification, we’re not really giving up anything,” Kathy Nolan, Ulster County Legislator and Catskill Mountainkeeper Senior Research Director, commented. “I grew up with electric heat and it was clean, it was quiet, it was safe. We didn’t have any explosions from gas lines coming into the house,” Nolan said. A devastating gas pipeline explosion in Beaver County, PA sent a huge fireball into the night sky on September 10th. In Massachusetts, gas explosions on September 13th injured dozens, killed one person and forced many to evacuate.
New Paltz Supervisor Neil Bettez and New Paltz Mayor Tim Rogers kicked off the speaking section of the program at the Green Vendor Fair, although the New Paltz Dance Team arguably kicked higher, performing the Electric Slide during the Parade and also at the Fair, in front of the solar panels of Village Hall. In introducing them, Iris Marie Bloom said, “New Paltz played a stellar role in defeating Pilgrim Pipelines,” a pair of oil pipelines which had been proposed to run through New Paltz, en route from Albany to Linden, NJ. “Now New Paltz and all our towns which defeated Pilgrim can do more to conserve, to become efficient, to use renewable energy and to drive electric.”
New Paltz Supervisor Neil Bettez said, “When we in the town put in EV charging stations, bike paths, and become a Climate Smart Community, we’re trying to make it easier for you to do the right thing and not drive carbon-emitting vehicles.”
New Paltz Mayor Tim Rogers highlighted conservation issues in addition to vehicle emissions, as he spoke by the EV Charging Station at Village Hall. “It was high school students who pushed New Paltz to adopt the Plastic Straw Free Resolution,” Tim said. “It’s young people and people like the New Paltz Climate Action Coalition who keep our feet to the fire. So keep on pushing!”
The Zero Emissions Parade engaged its participants with a Zero Waste approach, offering water to those who brought refillable water bottles or cups but not offering any water in plastic bottles or other single-use items. Heaps of apples enticed both people and bees, and those who ate apples found a prominent Compost Bucket for the cores.
County Executive Mike Hein also spoke as part of ZEP: “Ulster County is the first New York County which has its municipal facilities going 100% renewable. Providing EV charging stations is good for business, as well as for protecting climate.”
About 100 ZEP participants lingered for hours in the hot sun to visit vendors at the fair. Rycor HVAC had at least 15 people sign up to get a bid on new “mini-splits,” Mitsubishi air source heat pumps which have become radically more efficient. Test drives for Healy Chevrolet’s Bolt and Friendly Honda’s Clarity continued for 3 hours, while the e-bike was so popular that most participants didn’t get a chance to try it. Green Mountain Energy helped people sign up for 100% renewable electricity in a matter of minutes.
Other vendors interacting with the crowd at the Fair included Lotus Solar (Solarize Esopus), New York State Solar Farm, Natural Energy Solutions and Revolution Bikes.
Zucchini bread baked in a solar oven in the parking lot was declared “delicious” by all who tasted it as the Fair wound down. Janelle Peotter brought the solar oven and e-bike and provided leadership for the event through her involvement with New Paltz Climate Action Coalition and New Paltz Climate Smart, which organized the event together.
Student judges from the Climate Club at SUNY New Paltz gave out prizes from the Bicycle Depot to four winners of the Bicycle Decorating Contest, children ages 5 – 11.
“There is no such thing as a green car,” said Protecting Our Waters Director and New Paltz Climate Action Coalition member Iris Marie Bloom, who MC’d the event and introduced speakers. “The only way to go zero emissions is to walk, bike, use efficient public transportation, or charge your EV directly on 100% renewable energy. It shouldn’t have to be so hard to get to Net Zero Energy! The whole point of this parade and fair is to push for policies that make it affordable, easy and quick for everybody, because the death tolls from Hurricane Florence and Typhoon Mangkhut are rising right now, as we speak, and we have no time to spare.”
“Climate change is the biggest challenge that we as a species have ever faced,” Samrat Pathania, a teacher and volunteer organizer with New Paltz Climate Action Coalition, said. “The only way to conquer it is for communities like ours to come together and lead the way in abandoning fossil fuels. We created this parade to support many renewable clean energy solutions that are now readily available and to celebrate the human ingenuity that developed them. We want our children to inherit a livable world, so we must act now.”
The First Annual New Paltz Zero Emissions Parade was part of National Drive Electric Week, which included events in Gardiner, Kingston, and Poughkeepsie.
New Paltz Climate Action Coalition holds that “Energy efficiency, renewable energy, and electrification, combined, are key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Co-sponsors:Catskill Mountainkeeper, www.catskillmountainkeeper.org, New Paltz Interfaith Earth Action, www.newpaltzinterfaithaction.com, NewYorkers for Clean Power, https://nyforcleanpower.org, and Protecting Our Waters, https://www.facebook.com/ProtectingOurWaters, are co-sponsoring the parade and fair.
Organizers: New Paltz Climate Action Coalition www.newpaltzclimateaction.org is a group of engaged individuals dedicated to addressing the causes and consequences of climate change. New Paltz Climate Smart Communities www.dec.ny.gov/energy is part of a network of New York communities working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve climate resiliency. National Drive Electric Week https://driveelectricweek.org sponsored 248 celebrations from Sept. 8 to 16, 2018.
Photos
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GXB84w3Ttjj7NPyM6
Video
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgWXa1q5UhygHrEuTrCS3rOKHPEWp4w2f
