New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos today encouraged New Yorkers to participate in “Green Your Commute Day” on May 18. DEC is encouraging all commuters to utilize a more sustainable form of transportation to get to work on this day. Commissioner Seggos made the announcement at the Green Your Commute Fair today at Tricentennial Park in Albany. Nearly 2,000 State agency workers are expected to green their commutes this Friday, May 18.

DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said, “A threat as large as climate change requires an all hands-on deck approach and I call on all New Yorkers to join in this fight by utilizing a more sustainable mode of transportation on Green Your Commute Day. Today there are more options than ever to choose a green commute. I look forward to seeing you out there!”

On this day, New Yorkers are encouraged to utilize a more sustainable method of getting to work, such as:

• Walking;
• Biking;
• Taking Transit;
• Carpooling;
• Driving an electric vehicle; or
• Any other means that is not driving alone in a single occupancy, fossil fuel-powered vehicle.

Information and resources on choosing a green commute can be found here.

New Yorkers are also encouraged to post a selfie of their green commute to social media using #GYCD18.

Last year, New York State employees led by example on Green Your Commute Day. More than 1,700 workers participated in the annual event, the largest number of green commuters to date. Their actions offset 19.5 tons of carbon emissions, the equivalent of burning 1,579 gallons of gas.

The transportation sector is the largest source of carbon emissions in New York, representing 34 percent of the state’s total emissions. Green Your Commute Day builds upon the State’s aggressive actions to lower greenhouse gas emissions from this sector, including; investing a record amount of funding in public transportation, launching the Drive Clean Rebate program for electric vehicles and installing electric vehicle charging stations through the ChargeNY initiative, promoting smart growth, revitalizing our downtowns, and holding a series of listening sessions in coordination with the eight other Transportation and Climate Initiative jurisdictions to explore coordinated state action to lower greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.