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Residents and experts urge Finance Committee to retain funding for New Haven's Office of Climate and Sustainability
Summary
At a public hearing on the mayor's proposed budget, dozens of residents, students and environmental experts urged the Finance Committee to fund the Office of Climate and Sustainability (OCS), citing $34 million in grant wins, public-health benefits and risk to multi-year federal grants if the office is defunded.
Dozens of residents and local experts told the Finance Committee on Tuesday evening that the mayor's proposed budget should preserve funding for the city's Office of Climate and Sustainability (OCS).
Speakers described OCS as a small, grant-winning operation that advances projects to reduce air pollution, lower energy costs and leverage outside dollars for the city. "It figures out how to reposition our parking lots and landfill to generate revenue and to produce electricity," said Paul Wessel, a former city economic development staffer who testified in favor of the office. Several speakers said the office's work has public-health implications, pointing to elevated asthma rates in…
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