Westchester County Takes Huge Step toward Clearing its Air

(NEW YORK – June 21, 2016) The Westchester County Legislature today unanimously passed an important bill to rid the county’s buildings of soot pollution from dirty No. 6 and No. 4 heating oils. As highly polluting fuel sources, No. 6 and No. 4 heating oils are hugely harmful to public health and the environment – not to mention, bad for building efficiency. This legislation was inspired by New York City’s successful NYC Clean Heat program, which helped buildings switch to cleaner fuels and led to the cleanest air NYC has seen in the last fifty years. Westchester County can benefit from the lessons learned in New York City, and enact rules to phase out residual heating oil over time.

“This is an enormous win for residents of Westchester County’s health and wallets. Phasing out dirty heating fuels will dramatically improve Westchester County’s air quality while encouraging buildings to upgrade their own efficiency and save money in the long run.”

• Abbey Brown, Clean Energy Project Manager, Environmental Defense Fund

For more information on this announcement, see our blog post on the Energy Exchange.