The first meeting since the beginning of the pandemic started with a moment’s silence and remembrance of John Wackman, long time supporter of Kingston Transition, founder of the Repair Cafes in the Hudson Valley, co-author of Repair Revolution, and continuing presence, despite his untimely death, in our community. A generous soul who will be greatly missed. A full obituary can be found here

The city of Kingston is revising its Climate Action Plan - looking for more resident input, less government driven, and needs proactive folks to come with their priorities and suggestions and fill in a survey outlining their preferences/priorities.

Kingston Mutual Aid Click here for the FB page. Currently has a very active storage facility for bulky items as well as direct exchanges and a fund. Developing also Neighborhood Pods and an Urban Garden Collective that focuses on growing food and Future Fruits bringing fruit trees to Kingston. Find forms for volunteering and for requests for aid at https://www.kingstonmutualaid.org/ or contact Erica Brown at Radio Kingston for more information.

Dumped Stray Animal Rescue rescue working with stray animals, especially increasingly large colonies of stray, feral and abandoned cats. Contact Mia at miazangl23@gmail.com

HV Current connects makers and the community. Visit Tilda’s at 630 Broadway

Energy efficiency should be part of Climate Action Plans. We need programs to help fund making buildings and homes more energy efficient, (second highest cause of emissions) we need zero interest rates and reduced credit checks. We need to tighten up buildings before buying heat pumps or solar panels,. Citizens for Local Power runs interns' program to help create energy efficiency job opportunities.

Sustainable Hudson Valley has a Ten Step approach to get off fossil fuels / Iris Marie Bloom (Marbletown Environment Conservation Commission Chair) has pledged to provide coaches/buddies to help those trying to reduce fossil fuel use, open to individuals and businesses who want to take the pledge. Contact Iris by text at 215 840 6489. Next meeting Saturday, February 6 at 11 am Open to all. Click here to register

NYSERDA’s Clean Energy Communities Program is about to launch its Phase Two program focussed on ground source heat pumps. Similar to the previous Solarize program, this will provide real benefits to participating communities. Contact Nick Hvozda at Ulster County Department of the Environment for information on this program rollout.

See High Impact Action Items for Municipalities in the same NYSERDA program - for example Community Choice Aggregation chosen by Marbletown, which has chosen 100% renewable electricity

New 350.org chapter in Kingston, the worldwide movement for a just transition to 100% renewable energy. Contact: Daniel.james.helmer@gmail.com

Citizens for Local Power is fighting Central Hudson’s proposed raise of electricity rates again “at a time when there should be a moratorium” Please contact Susan if you are interested in joining the fight. CH is also continuing to budget $43m/year to replace/renew their gas infrastructure, without justification and when investment is needed in renewable energy source.

Ulster County’s Project Resilience is currently focussed on Food Pantries and has also developed a child care initiative.

Hudson Valley Environmental Justice Coalition sponsors monthly conversations. bringing nationally recognized figures to local audiences to speak about environmental justice and the environmental-crisis, Aaron Mair, first African American president of the Sierra Club was the January speaker. Click here for upcoming events in February.

Bruno, TeamLogic IT is contacting local computer repair shops to see how they can put together resources to repair/maintain computers and devices needed by financially strained community members - especially those needed for education. Will report back.

Erica. Radio Kingston, is looking to form a group that can filter and make accessible the information that is exchanged in these meetings. The wider community could use information about programs and opportunities developed by participants and organizations, but the content is too dense to easily extract what could be useful. It needs to be sorted and then passed on to the rest of the community. She suggested maybe using PSAs. Contact Erica at Radio Kingston if you can help.