Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon (D-Utica/Rome) held a climate change seminar on Tuesday, Oct. 8, with guest speaker Dr. Aaron Strong, an assistant professor of environmental studies at Hamilton College.

“Climate change isn’t something we can push off on future generations – it’s affecting our families right now,” Buttenschon said. “Keeping up to date on the latest research and learning how we can better protect the environment are important steps we can take right now to combat this very real problem. I want to thank Assistant Professor Strong for his time, as well as everyone who came out Tuesday. As we move forward, I’ll continue fighting to ensure our children can have a brighter, more sustainable future.”

This is the second climate change seminar Buttenschon has hosted this fall. Guest speaker Strong joined her Tuesday at the Utica Public Library. Strong was trained as an interdisciplinary sustainability scientist and has been researching the impact of climate change and the dynamics of climate feedbacks in terrestrial and marine systems.

In addition to hosting seminars to keep Mohawk Valley residents informed, Buttenschon has been fighting for legislation to protect the environment and combat climate change. She helped pass the strongest climate change law in the nation – the New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act – which invests in green energy projects, sets goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promotes environmental justice (Ch. 106 of 2019). Buttenschon also helped pass several measures in honor of Earth Day to preserve New York’s natural resources and safeguard public health (A.2286, A.2064, A.2501-A, A.6296-A).