Combating the Climate Crisis One Town at a Time

The climate crisis has arrived

More than 11,000 scientists worldwide endorsed the January 2020 Bioscience article making that statement. It went on to say that an "immense increase of scale in endeavors to conserve our biosphere is needed to avoid untold suffering due to the climate crisis.”

Humans’ ever-increasing consumption of fossil fuel, deforestation, and intensive agriculture are all boosting the level of carbon dioxide emissions (and, to a lesser extent three other gases) in our atmosphere. These “greenhouse gases” (GHG) trap heat that would otherwise radiate out, warming the planet, which in turn causes large-scale aberrations in global weather patterns yielding disruption, devastation, and extinction.

The increased awareness and attention to this threat is now much more visible on the international, national, and state level--and even in towns as small as Weston--as evidenced by a wave of political activity in the form of climate action plans.

Climate Action Plans

Climate action plans generally include greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets and detailed actions to meet those goals. The plans may also include additional components such as resilience strategies, clean energy targets, and economic and social goals.

One of the most famous climate action plans is the 2015 Paris Accord, a landmark international agreement to combat the climate crisis that was adopted by nearly every nation. The agreement aims to substantially reduce worldwide GHG emissions in an effort to limit the global temperature increase in this century to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, while pursuing ways to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees. The agreement includes commitments from all major emitting countries to cut their climate pollution and to strengthen those commitments over time. The United States, the second largest emitter, rejoined the agreement on January 20, 2021, as one of the first acts of President Joe Biden; the previous president had withdrawn the U.S. from the Accord in 2017.

The United States itself has a climate action plan, recently introduced by the Biden administration. The plan’s directive is to achieve a 100 percent clean energy economy and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. (Net-zero emissions is a synonym for carbon neutrality. It refers to achieving an overall balance between the amount of greenhouse gases taken out of the atmosphere and amount that are released into the atmosphere.) The plan also protects low-income communities and communities of color from industrial polluters and takes into account the future of the nation’s oil and gas workers and their communities. With this plan in action, the nation could become a world leader in climate protection and adaptation.

state of massachusetts in climate circle

Meanwhile, at the state level, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs is in the planning process to identify its own “decarbonization roadmap.” Like the U.S. plan, it aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, and sets forth incremental goals for 2030 and 2040, as well as sub-limits for certain industries. Other provisions include mandates for utilities to purchase a certain amount of offshore wind energy, that at least 40 percent of the state’s electric power be renewable by 2030, and that the Department of Public Utilities alter its approach to regulating electric and natural gas utilities to better balance the priorities of reliability, system safety, security, and affordability while having meaningful reductions in GHG emissions. The Commonwealth wants to know what you think on the subject: Public comment on the plan is open until February 22 at www.mass.gov/2030CECP.

And finally, at the town level, Weston’s own Sustainability Committee has been working to provide fellow citizens more voice and opportunities for actionable changes by pursuing several key initiatives.

One very specific and concrete initiative is the committee’s ongoing work on implementing Weston Power Choice (westonpowerchoice.org), a “Community Choice Aggregation” program, which enables the municipality to purchase a cleaner energy supply on behalf of its citizens. By making access to renewably produced electricity simpler and potentially cheaper, it will enable residents to minimize their personal emission footprints. The program enjoyed near-unanimous resident support at Weston’s December 2019 Town Meeting, and is now under regulatory review as part of the routine process.

In step with state, national, and even international efforts to combat the accelerating climate crisis, the Sustainability Committee has also been working to create Weston’s own first Climate Action and Resiliency plan, through the effort known as Weston Ahead. The 13-months-long intensive planning process has been under way since the Sustainability Committee received a $100,000 grant from the state in January 2020, and to date, it has engaged much of Weston’s community in a deep and equitable process to consider the town’s needs and priorities, as it is trying to simultaneously slow its contribution to climate change and prepare for worst outcomes. Right now, a public survey is inviting the input of residents who wish to have a voice in the plan. The survey will be open until Sunday, February 21, and is available at tinyurl.com/gvz5a8wl.

The next phase of the process--to discern what a sustainable and resilient future looks like for Weston--will identify goals that align the town with the climate goals of our state, our country, and the world and explore avenues to achieve those goals that make sense for residents as well as the municipality. It includes a recently completed greenhouse gas inventory, providing a baseline for comparison and quantifying opportunities at the municipal as well as residential levels, and promising the ability to track progress against the goals set forth in the plan. This coming spring, the town will emerge with a 3–5-year action plan and with that, plus the hiring of a new sustainability coordinator (now in process) we are confident Weston will establish itself as one of the municipal leaders in climate change awareness and join other nearby towns pursuing similar goals.

be the change you want to see in the world

The Work Ahead

The funding received for Weston Ahead was possible because Weston is an MVP town! That means it had completed a first step (and a previous grant application) in the Massachusetts’ Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program to identify climate related risks and vulnerabilities for Weston. That status, in addition to having a climate action plan in place, will make Weston eligible and well positioned for further grants from state or federal sources for projects that support the Weston Ahead plan. These may include energy efficiency measures in municipal buildings, but also programs to educate and empower residents to engage in climate action and improve their own climate resilience, strengthening the Weston community as a whole. This background work will also form an ideal starting point for a newly hired sustainability coordinator to begin their work.

Individual households can align themselves with this movement, too, and take actions to move Weston—and the world—ahead. Find inspiration at westonahead.org!