Climate Wednesdays
Solar + Storage Snags: Challenges to NYC's Climate Goals
New York City has ambitious goals for renewable energy, but city and state regulations and red tape pose tough challenges. What must change so we can quickly bring solar energy and battery storage to our neighborhoods and slash greenhouse gas emissions throughout the city and state? Our speakers will identify the major hurdles, offer solutions for removing them and explain how we can all get involved. This event is a collaboration of 350Brooklyn, Brooklyn Public Library, and Solar One, a non-profit education, training and technical assistance organization.
Moderator:
Chloe Holden is an energy storage research analyst at the market research firm Wood Mackenzie. Her research covers U.S. residential, commercial, and community-scale battery storage. She lives in Brooklyn and is an enthusiastic Brooklyn Public Library patron. Chloe holds a degree in Political Science from Wesleyan University.
Panelists:
Angelica Ramdhari (she/her) is the Director of Resilient Solar at Solar One, where she focuses on the deployment of projects in the high-barrier NYC energy storage market. Her experience includes implementing carbon offset programs for the University of Florida, developing energy efficiency strategies for affordable housing in Gainesville, managing both private and non-profit solar energy projects in NYC, and now directing the design and installation of several solar + storage projects in Brooklyn and the Bronx. She is a native New Yorker who appreciates hyperlocal civic engagement in her community, where she co-chairs the Environmental Protection Committee at Brooklyn Community Board 6 and facilitates Participatory Budgeting for District 39.
Claudia Villar-Leeman is an Energy Policy Advisor at the NYC Mayor’s Offices of Climate, Sustainability and Resiliency. There, she contributes to the City’s goal to achieve an energy system that is clean, affordable for residents, and resilient to the intensifying impacts of climate change. Claudia’s broad portfolio includes coordinating the development of the City’s first Long Term Energy Plan as well as leading the Offices' efforts to promote energy storage development citywide. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, Claudia taught biology and climate policy at a high school in the Dominican Republic, and later joined the team at the Climate Museum, the first museum in the U.S. dedicated to climate change. Claudia currently serves on the board of Young Professionals in Energy - NYC, where she designed and launched the organization's first clean energy mentorship program. She was selected as a 2021 New York Fellow at the Clean Energy Leadership Institute. Claudia holds an M.A. in Climate & Society from Columbia University and a B.A. in Biology from Bowdoin College.
A lifelong resident of Windsor Terrace and Kensington, Robert Carroll represents the 44th District in the New York State Assembly. Carroll attended P.S. 230 and graduated from Xaverian High School, SUNY Binghamton (where he studied History and Theatre) and New York Law School. Before being elected to the Assembly he was a practicing attorney specializing in contract law, election law, trusts and estates, and real estate law. Carroll also did work in non-profit theatre where he worked as a writer and actor, and was the Development Director and fundraiser for an independent theatre company in Manhattan. A play he wrote (The Believers) was produced on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the Fall of 2014. Carroll served on Community Board 7, where he chaired multiple committees, and is a member of many community organizations like the Windsor Terrace Food Coop and the Park Slope Civic Council. Carroll sponsored Bill No. A07343, which provides an energy storage property tax abatement for New York City.
Stephan Roundtree is a lawyer who currently serves as Northeast Director for Vote Solar, the highly effective solar advocacy organization that Solar One worked closely with to help pass New York State’s first net metering law, allowing solar installation owners to sell excess power back to Con Edison. With degrees from Boston College, the Vermont Law School and the Northeastern University School of Law, Stephan brings a passion for social and environmental justice along with extensive technical knowledge gained through his previous work with Green Mountain Energy, the American International Group (AIG) and Solar One’s long-term partners WEACT for Environmental Justice.
This workshop will take place online via Zoom. Please RSVP at least an hour in advance to receive the Zoom link prior to the event. It will also be livestreamed on YouTube here.
This program will be recorded and shared later on YouTube. All participants who register and join this program will be recorded. Your image will be seen if you leave your camera on, if you ask a question your voice will be heard, and your name may be visible.
Upcoming events:
Dec. 1st: Brooklyn's Battery Breakthrough: How Four Branch Libraries are Charging Ahead
Solar + Storage Snags: Challenges to NYC's Climate Goals
New York City has ambitious goals for renewable energy, but city and state regulations and red tape pose tough challenges. What must change so we can quickly bring solar energy and battery storage to our neighborhoods and slash greenhouse gas emissions throughout the city and state? Our speakers will identify the major hurdles, offer solutions for removing them and explain how we can all get involved. This event is a collaboration of 350Brooklyn, Brooklyn Public Library, and Solar One, a non-profit education, training and technical assistance organization.
Moderator:
Chloe Holden is an energy storage research analyst at the market research firm Wood Mackenzie. Her research covers U.S. residential, commercial, and community-scale battery storage. She lives in Brooklyn and is an enthusiastic Brooklyn Public Library patron. Chloe holds a degree in Political Science from Wesleyan University.
Panelists:
Angelica Ramdhari (she/her) is the Director of Resilient Solar at Solar One, where she focuses on the deployment of projects in the high-barrier NYC energy storage market. Her experience includes implementing carbon offset programs for the University of Florida, developing energy efficiency strategies for affordable housing in Gainesville, managing both private and non-profit solar energy projects in NYC, and now directing the design and installation of several solar + storage projects in Brooklyn and the Bronx. She is a native New Yorker who appreciates hyperlocal civic engagement in her community, where she co-chairs the Environmental Protection Committee at Brooklyn Community Board 6 and facilitates Participatory Budgeting for District 39.
Claudia Villar-Leeman is an Energy Policy Advisor at the NYC Mayor’s Offices of Climate, Sustainability and Resiliency. There, she contributes to the City’s goal to achieve an energy system that is clean, affordable for residents, and resilient to the intensifying impacts of climate change. Claudia’s broad portfolio includes coordinating the development of the City’s first Long Term Energy Plan as well as leading the Offices' efforts to promote energy storage development citywide. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, Claudia taught biology and climate policy at a high school in the Dominican Republic, and later joined the team at the Climate Museum, the first museum in the U.S. dedicated to climate change. Claudia currently serves on the board of Young Professionals in Energy - NYC, where she designed and launched the organization's first clean energy mentorship program. She was selected as a 2021 New York Fellow at the Clean Energy Leadership Institute. Claudia holds an M.A. in Climate & Society from Columbia University and a B.A. in Biology from Bowdoin College.
A lifelong resident of Windsor Terrace and Kensington, Robert Carroll represents the 44th District in the New York State Assembly. Carroll attended P.S. 230 and graduated from Xaverian High School, SUNY Binghamton (where he studied History and Theatre) and New York Law School. Before being elected to the Assembly he was a practicing attorney specializing in contract law, election law, trusts and estates, and real estate law. Carroll also did work in non-profit theatre where he worked as a writer and actor, and was the Development Director and fundraiser for an independent theatre company in Manhattan. A play he wrote (The Believers) was produced on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the Fall of 2014. Carroll served on Community Board 7, where he chaired multiple committees, and is a member of many community organizations like the Windsor Terrace Food Coop and the Park Slope Civic Council. Carroll sponsored Bill No. A07343, which provides an energy storage property tax abatement for New York City.
Stephan Roundtree is a lawyer who currently serves as Northeast Director for Vote Solar, the highly effective solar advocacy organization that Solar One worked closely with to help pass New York State’s first net metering law, allowing solar installation owners to sell excess power back to Con Edison. With degrees from Boston College, the Vermont Law School and the Northeastern University School of Law, Stephan brings a passion for social and environmental justice along with extensive technical knowledge gained through his previous work with Green Mountain Energy, the American International Group (AIG) and Solar One’s long-term partners WEACT for Environmental Justice.
This workshop will take place online via Zoom. Please RSVP at least an hour in advance to receive the Zoom link prior to the event. It will also be livestreamed on YouTube here.
This program will be recorded and shared later on YouTube. All participants who register and join this program will be recorded. Your image will be seen if you leave your camera on, if you ask a question your voice will be heard, and your name may be visible.
Upcoming events:
Dec. 1st: Brooklyn's Battery Breakthrough: How Four Branch Libraries are Charging Ahead
Brooklyn Public Library - Virtual MM/DD/YYYY 60