Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
Mayumi Doyama looked at organic grasses at the Bedford Environmental Summit.
Bedford Environmental Summit
In Westchester, Learning to Save the Planet by Starting at Home
By RAY RIVERA
BEDFORD, N.Y. — When New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg unveiled his sweeping environmental vision for the city two years ago, the venerable American Museum of Natural History served as his setting, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Tony Blair, then the British prime minister, piped in messages of support via two large television screens.
Not to be outdone, this wealthy enclave 45 minutes north of the city rolled out its own stars on Saturday as it part of its ambitious plan for a sustainable future. Bob Woodruff, a reporter for ABC News, who lives in nearby Rye, gave the keynote address. Chevy Chase, who owns a home here, introduced the closing panel. And though the setting was a high school, not a fancy museum or hotel, nearly 1,000 people gathered to listen to experts talk about global threats to the environment and problems as close as their backyards. Bedford, which has a population of 18,000, consists of three hamlets in the Croton watershed, an ecotopia of lakes, ponds and wetlands that provides New York City with part of its drinking water. The town is among a number of smaller communities across the country that have joined cities in trying to reduce their carbon footprints, motivated by concerns over global warming. Bedford hopes to cut its greenhouse gas 
emissions by 20 percent over the next 11 years. The conference, billed as the Bedford Environmental Summit, drew more than 85 speakers — all volunteering their time — ranging from local politicians to national environmental figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Thomas Lovejoy, creator of the public television program “Nature.” Pulling off such an ambitious event was a testament to the town’s environmental consciousness, but also, to some degree, to the wealth and influence of its residents. But putting the rich on an energy diet has its challenges. Many of the people who came to see Mr. Kennedy give a lecture on oil depletion drove in alone in Range Rovers, Chevy Suburbans or other S.U.V.’s, making the few Toyota Priuses in the parking lot look like lonely high school nerds at lunchtime. “This is awell-heeled community, and one of the important benefits of the enormous turnout 
and interest today is it starts people talking and thinking,” said Ellen Conrad, president of the Bedford Garden Club, one of the event’s sponsors. “Today is about convincing each and every person who attended that they need to make a difference, and I’m hoping the choice of cars will be an important step.” Alas, though, when asked what kind of car she drove, Ms. Conrad sheepishly admitted, “It’s a Lexus S.U.V. — the worst.” By way of apology, she added that her daughters drive Priuses; her husband, whose vehicle just died, is getting one; and she will get something environmentally friendly as well, when her Lexus is finally retired. “Unfortunately that’s the balance between the economics and the cause,” she said. “Hopefully we can shift that needle a little more to the cause and away from the economics.” Other environmental problems lurk in the town’s hills, among all those spacious, energy-hungry homes. Many of the roads leading to them are kept as dirt, to make it easy for horseback riding, but contributing to runoff. And because of regulations intended to protect New York City’s water supply, the town cannot build a sewage treatment plant. About 7,000 
homes here rely on septic tanks, which can lead to higher 
concentrations of nitrogen in the groundwater, especially in more crowded areas, said Kevin Winn, Bedford’s commissioner of public works.The town, led by an environmental advisory board, hopes to have a detailed plan for reducing emissions within the next few months, said Mary Beth Kass, the board’s chairwoman. At Saturday’s conference, which was held at Fox Lane High School, a band room was turned into a lecture hall where visitors could learn about the issues facing Bedford’s water supply. In the small gymnasium was information about biodiversity and the evils of fast food, and in a classroom about oceans and fish in peril. Down a main
hallway, there was an expo where an array of companies and nonprofit groups promoted everything from low-tech organic farming to high-concept plans for green commerce.
emissions by 20 percent over the next 11 years. The conference, billed as the Bedford Environmental Summit, drew more than 85 speakers — all volunteering their time — ranging from local politicians to national environmental figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Thomas Lovejoy, creator of the public television program “Nature.” Pulling off such an ambitious event was a testament to the town’s environmental consciousness, but also, to some degree, to the wealth and influence of its residents. But putting the rich on an energy diet has its challenges. Many of the people who came to see Mr. Kennedy give a lecture on oil depletion drove in alone in Range Rovers, Chevy Suburbans or other S.U.V.’s, making the few Toyota Priuses in the parking lot look like lonely high school nerds at lunchtime. “This is awell-heeled community, and one of the important benefits of the enormous turnout and interest today is it starts people talking and thinking,” said Ellen Conrad, president of the Bedford Garden Club, one of the event’s sponsors. “Today is about convincing each and every person who attended that they need to make a difference, and I’m hoping the choice of cars will be an important step.” Alas, though, when asked what kind of car she drove, Ms. Conrad sheepishly admitted, “It’s a Lexus S.U.V. — the worst.” By way of apology, she added that her daughters drive Priuses; her husband, whose vehicle just died, is getting one; and she will get something environmentally friendly as well, when her Lexus is finally retired. “Unfortunately that’s the balance between the economics and the cause,” she said. “Hopefully we can shift that needle a little more to the cause and away from the economics.” Other environmental problems lurk in the town’s hills, among all those spacious, energy-hungry homes. Many of the roads leading to them are kept as dirt, to make it easy for horseback riding, but contributing to runoff. And because of regulations intended to protect New York City’s water supply, the town cannot build a sewage treatment plant. About 7,000 homes here rely on septic tanks, which can lead to higher concentrations of nitrogen in the groundwater, especially in more crowded areas, said Kevin Winn, Bedford’s commissioner of public works.The town, led by an environmental advisory board, hopes to have a detailed plan for reducing emissions within the next few months, said Mary Beth Kass, the board’s chairwoman. At Saturday’s conference, which was held at Fox Lane High School, a band room was turned into a lecture hall where visitors could learn about the issues facing Bedford’s water supply. In the small gymnasium was information about biodiversity and the evils of fast food, and in a classroom about oceans and fish in peril. Down a main hallway, there was an expo where an array of companies and nonprofit groups promoted everything from low-tech organic farming to high-concept plans for green commerce.
Squeezed in among them, Samantha Ruff and Eleanor Stein, both 17, displayed a project from their Advanced Placement environmental sciences course. The centerpiece was an energy pyramid, much like the familiar food pyramid, except with crop residue at the bottom leading right up to wind, solar and hydrogen at the top. “The higher you go, the cleaner the energy,” Samantha said. They were among 50 students from the course helping at the conference, listening to lectures and showing off their projects. For their 29-year-old teacher, Paul Frisch, the class and the conference were a sign of how much has changed in just a generation. “I certainly didn’t have anything like this when I was in school,” he said.
