Jimmy Jordan is a general assignment reporter at The Ithaca Voice who has covered Ithaca’s Green New Deal (IGND) and a plethora of other subjects like bitcoin mining in Upstate, New York, public safety reform, energy and — most recently — tenants’ rights issues (e.g., the Right to Renew, Good Cause Eviction law, etc.). His work tends to be national in scope yet local in angle. It’s often peppered with illustrative anecdotes and useful captions that add depth to his storytelling.
We had the pleasure of speaking with him on March, 4, 2022, about his coverage of the City’s plans for decarbonization at the Voice’s office on the Ithaca Commons. In our interview with Jordan, he spoke about the overall scope of the plan, what it was like covering it and what it means for Ithaca and other municipalities across the state.
“The biggest takeaway that I have is that it’s been interesting watching a small municipality try to do what other people… are saying needs to be done" - Jimmy Jordan, Reporter at The Ithaca Voice
“The biggest takeaway that I have is that it’s been interesting watching a small municipality try to do what other people… are saying needs to be done,” he said.
Jordan wrote an article titled “Green New Deal primer: Vote approaches for the $100M plan to make Ithaca’s buildings go green” where he unpacked the plan in all its glory. Although the piece was published prior to IGND’s final approval by the City of Ithaca Common Council, it is packed with essential information about who is involved, why it’s important and how the City will be achieving its “incredibly ambitious” (and necessary) goals. He elaborated on his reporting during our interview with him.
Social equity and economic justice are at the forefront of the IGND, Jordan says. The plan is all about putting this imperative transformation within reach of all Ithacans. And the City is turning to the private sector to fund the IGND because, without federal or state funding, it lacks the financial bandwidth to achieve its stated goals. For some, the role of private equity amounts to a “creative solution,” but others are more skeptical.
An entirely new industry is going to spring up around this important decarbonization work, which will result in the creation of green jobs focused on electrification and retrofitting, among other things.
The scale of the IGND is arguably a “massive undertaking.” It involves the decarbonization of more than 1,000 buildings, municipal transportation, an unknown number of households within city limits and the local economy. When asked if Ithaca’s carbon neutrality goals were realistic, Jordan said that he believes they are “possible.”
“This is… a huge promise,” he said. “It’s easy to make promises — it’s a lot harder to keep them.”
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