The Cornell Daily Sun
Summary
On Sept. 24, Cornell University and the City and Town of Ithaca officially became the first partnership between a college campus and a city to be recognized by the United Nations in working toward the U.N.’s sustainability goals.
The Finger Lakes Energy Compact was made to reach carbon neutrality by 2030 and transition to sustainable energy for all of Ithaca, aiming to support the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change and impart solutions towards a clean, just, renewable energy future.
While the initiative is new, Cornell and Ithaca have a history of working together toward sustainability goals.
“[The compact is] nothing more than a couple of stakeholders getting together in a group before the United Nations to do the best they can do to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and increase access to clean energy,” said Luis Aguirre-Torres, the City of Ithaca’s new director of sustainability.
As part of the compact, the City of Ithaca is in the process of integrating community choice aggregation — purchasing renewable energy in bulk on behalf of all its residents to make the transition to more sustainable energy sources cheaper.
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