Green Guru Network

Governor Cuomo today announced that federal disaster assistance is now available for homeowners, renters, businesses and municipalities in additional counties as a result of damages incurred by Hurricane Irene.  

Today's additions include: Individual Assistance: Herkimer Public Assistance: Franklin, Hamilton and Herkimer   Residents and small businesses in a total of 28 counties are now eligible to apply for the following assistance: the Individuals and Households Program, Crisis Counseling, Disaster Unemployment Assistance, USDA food coupons and distribution, USDA food commodities, Disaster Legal Services, the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Small Business Administration disaster loans.

Counties currently eligible for assistance from Hurricane Irene are:  

Individual Assistance (Assistance to individuals and households): Albany, Bronx, Columbia, Clinton, Delaware, Dutchess, Essex, Greene, Herkimer, Kings, Montgomery, Nassau, Orange, Otsego, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster, Warren, Washington and Westchester counties.

Public Assistance (Assistance for debris removal, emergency protective actions and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities): Albany, Bronx, Clinton, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Essex, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Kings, Montgomery, Nassau, New York, Oran ge, Otsego, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster, Warren, Washington and Westchester counties.

Direct federal assistance is authorized.

The counties currently eligible for assistance from Tropical Storm Lee are:

Individual Assistance (Assistance to individuals and households): Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, Schenectady and Tioga counties.  

All counties in the State of New York are eligible to apply for assistance under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (Assistance for actions taken to prevent or reduce long term risk to life and property from natural hazards).    

Additional counties may be made eligible for federal assistance as ongoing damage assessments are completed.

How To Apply

$8 Million Program Targeted to Assist Victims of Hurricane Irene and
Tropical Storm Lee

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today launched an $8 million appliance grant
program for those who sustained property damage as a result of Hurricane
Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. The program will help New Yorkers cover
the costs of replacing vital household appliances, such as
refrigerators, boilers washing machines and furnaces, damaged by the
recent flooding. Grants will be a fixed amount for different appliances
and could cover up to 100 percent of the costs of a purchase. If the
cost of the appliance exceeds the cap, the program will pay a portion of
the total costs up to the cap.

"Our top priority is making sure those affected by these storms have the
help they need to recover," Governor Cuomo said. "This program will
cover the costs for critical household appliances and help New Yorkers
who suffered property damage to save money as they rebuild after the
storms."

The program will be administered by the New York State Energy Research
and Development Authority (NYSERDA) with funding from the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Grants will be available for the most
critical energy efficient equipment and appliances.

Residents statewide in affected areas will be eligible and must affirm
that they have been impacted by Hurricane Irene or Tropical Storm Lee
and that these products are not covered by insurance or FEMA assistance.
For residents affected by Hurricane Irene, grants on purchases of
approved appliances and equipment will be retroactive to Aug. 29, 2011,
and for residents affected by Tropical Storm Lee, grants will be
retroactive to Sept. 9, 2011.

Grants will be for ENERGY STAR(c) qualified appliances and equipment
where applicable. In product categories for which there are no ENERGY
STAR criteria, the higher efficiency units will be eligible for a
rebate.

A list of eligible equipment and appliances and rebate levels is as
follows:

The Pay Now Or Pay Later report by the American Security Project outlines costs to states for incation on the subject of climate change.  Key findings for New York are:

Conservatively, climate change sensitive jobs account for 290,000 jobs leading to $77 billion inprofits annually for the state. Including 10,000 jobs in the $4 million dollar winter tourism industry are threatened by shorter warmer winters and 70,000 jobs in the industries related to outddors, wildlife, wood and paper products industries which are are predicted to disapear. More frequent and severe Nor'easters and Hurricanes are predicted to flood the New York Metropolitan area. The clean up cost? over $200 billion, or $1,750 per United States household.

What do we stand to gain? New York has the potential to generate over 80% of it's electricity from clean renewable sources generating 100,000 jobs statewide. Read more in this Natural Resource Defense Council Story

The Omega Center has a great web site showcasing their new Center for Sustainable Living .