Brooklyn Chamber (NY) holds Energy Summit and Expo

The Brooklyn (NY) Chamber of Commerce is positioned to be a leader in developing a clean energy economy, and recently hosted a Brooklyn Energy Summit and Expo to talk about the city’s clean energy future. The chamber brought together community innovators and leaders to focus on workforce development, and discuss energy efficiency and savings. 

New York City has set many clean energy goals, including reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, using only clean electricity by 2040, and creating 1000 megawatts of solar energy by 2030. With ambitious goals, the city has implemented laws that require all new buildings to have solar panels. This may be easy for some new developments, but not all corners of the city can support the transition all at once, and cities like Brooklyn are looking to become innovative and impactful in trying to meet clean energy goals and standards. 

The summit included a panel discussion with leaders in the industry and community, with the focus to discuss Brooklyn’s biggest struggles to meet climate goals. The panel included leaders from:

• Con-Ed

• New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

• Equinor

• U.S. Energy Storage Development

• National Grid

• Reflective Energy Solutions

• American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE)

• Slow Factory

A keynote presentation was given by Mark Chambers, senior director for building emissions and community resilience at the White House Council on environmental quality.

At the heart of the discussion was the Build Back Better Act which will aid in clean energy development and EV infrastructure. With new development comes new job opportunities and room for economic growth in the Brooklyn community. “The goal is to engage in a community wide and community focused conversation on how we are going to undertake this massive cultural, technological and practical shift in the energy space. We need a workforce, a skilled workforce that’s going to be able to implement a lot of this change,” said Randy Peers, President and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. “In Brooklyn, we’ve cultivated a lot in the energy-tech sector, so I think Brooklyn can be a nation leader in the energy transition.”

The Brooklyn Chamber is a leading example of a chamber of commerce claiming their seat at the table, and being at the forefront of clean energy discussions, while sitting at the crossroads of workforce development, environmental justice, and adaptivity to the clean energy transition.

Op-ed: This is What the Green Economy of Today Looks Like: Family-Sustaining, Inclusive and Accessible

This opinion piece was written by Lisa Sorin, president of the New Bronx Chamber of Commerce. This article was published by Crain's New York Business on April 8, 2022.

The green economy is the economy of the future: Transitioning to a greener economy is projected to create 24 million jobs globally by 2030, the International Labour Organization says. As New York works to recover from Covid-19's economic devastation, however, we need to start thinking about the green economy of today—with massive potential to create stable, good-paying jobs right now in communities such as the Bronx and others that were hit hardest by unemployment. In fact, jobs in renewable energy increased in 2020—even amid the pandemic's economic disruption. All the data points to the need to urgently invest in clean energy solutions now—not only as a climate strategy but an economic one. New York is leading the way on both fronts. In 2019 the state enacted the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and set a goal for a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040 and economywide carbon neutrality. Achievable goal Clean Path New York is how we make that goal a reality—an $11 billion, all-New York investment to build new, state-of-the-art wind and solar infrastructure upstate and a 175-mile transmission line to bring reliable, clean power downstate where it's needed most. Crucially, the project will create 8,300 jobs in engineering, construction, operations, maintenance and elsewhere—all paying well, all for New York and all in a sector that is poised for dynamic growth. Clean Path New York has committed to working with skilled union labor and pursuing local hiring to ensure that working New Yorkers have meaningful opportunities to bring this first-in-the-nation project to life in our state. When it is completed, Clean Path New York will enable the delivery of more than 7.5 million megawatt-hours of emissions-free clean energy into New York every year and reduce fossil fuel emissions from the electric sector by 22% on average per year—that's 49 million tons of avoided CO2. With Clean Path New York, we'll be well on our way toward New York's goal of 70% renewable energy generation by 2030. The Clean Path New York project recognizes that the transition to a green economy must be just and swift. For too long, communities on the front lines of climate change, especially neighborhoods in the Bronx, have borne the public health burdens of living near and working in New York's fossil fuel infrastructure—paying the price in higher risks of illness with little economic gain. Investing in green We must ensure that these New Yorkers are not only part of the new green economy, but the drivers of it. That means investing in green job training, union apprenticeships, workforce development and education to create real, long-term career pathways to the renewable energy sector. Clean Path New York has committed $270 million to this effort, to be steered by New Yorkers, including those in affected communities. This investment will help expand New York's green economy to be more representative of the full breadth of New York's diverse and skilled workforce. This is what the green economy of today looks like—family-sustaining, inclusive, and accessible to anyone who wants to be part of New York's recovery and our state's transition to a sustainable, renewable energy future. Clean Path New York meets the moment head on—a win for the Bronx, a win for our economy, a win for our climate and a win for our future. Lisa Sorin is president of the New Bronx Chamber of Commerce.

If you would like to learn more about clean energy opportunities in your community, please contact Ryan Evans.

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