Select Board approves climate emergency declaration
The Arlington Select Board voted unanimously in favor of an Arlington Declaration of Climate Emergency, warrant article No. 91.
The declaration, which now goes before Town Meeting in April, calls on the town to take immediate action in areas within the town’s authority to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, report on the quantity of the town’s emissions, promote and encourage climate action by other governmental authorities, and protect the rights of people at greatest risk. …
Arlington’s Net Zero Action Plan Completed
Roadmap to net zero greenhouse gas pollution by 2050.
Post Date:03/09/2021 10:57 AM https://www.arlingtonma.gov/Home/Components/News/News/10953/16
The Town of Arlington’s Clean Energy Future Committee is pleased to announce the completion of the Net Zero Action Plan. The Net Zero Action Plan will guide Arlington to net zero greenhouse gas pollution by 2050. The Plan includes greenhouse gas reduction measures in three categories: Net Zero Buildings, Zero Emissions Mobility, and Clean Energy Supply. The Plan calls for reducing greenhouse gas pollution by making buildings more energy efficient and powering them with carbon-free electricity. It also calls for better mobility choices to reduce reliance on automobiles, and for making cars, trucks, and buses zero-emissions. The Plan outlines aggressive efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and ensures that the benefits of greenhouse gas reduction measures are shared equally by everyone, while any costs do not further burden those least able to afford them.
In 2018, Arlington’s Select Board adopted a goal to achieve net zero greenhouse has pollution by 2050. That same year, it created the Clean Energy Future Committee to guide the Town’s efforts to reach that goal. In September 2019, the Committee began work on a Net Zero Action Plan, and on February 26, 2021, completed the Plan. Implementing this plan will require dedication and commitment from the Town and residents over the next 30 years. This Plan builds on nearly 20 years of Town progress on emissions reductions and serves as an organizing framework on our path to net zero that Arlington will revisit and adjust in the coming years.
“The Net Zero Action Plan gives us a clear roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas pollution. I applaud the hard work of the Clean Energy Future Committee for successfully writing this plan over many months” said Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine.
“The Department of Planning and Community Development played a major supporting role in the creation of the Net Zero Action Plan” said Director Jennifer Raitt. “We look forward to this new phase of helping the Town implement the Plan in the months and years to come.”
The Town of Arlington partnered with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to develop the Net Zero Action Plan. The Clean Energy Future Committee, supported by the Department of Planning and Community Development and MAPC, sought input from numerous community groups and individuals, including Town departments, boards and committees, as well as business, civic and faith groups. A Net Zero Survey in June 2020 and a Net Zero Virtual Open House in November 2020 elicited input from over 1,000 residents about what to include in the Net Zero Action Plan.
This project was supported by a Planning Assistance Grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, as well as matching funds and technical support from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and the Town of Arlington. In addition to the Net Zero Action Plan, the project included creation of a Greenhouse Gas Inventory detailing all sources of greenhouse gas pollution from the Town of Arlington. The Net Zero Action Plan and Greenhouse Gas Inventory are available onthe Clean Energy Future Committee webpage.
The Clean Energy Future Committee plans to present the Net Zero Action Plan at a public meeting of the Select Board in the coming months. For more information about Arlington’s Net Zero Action Plan, please contact Ken Pruitt, Energy and Project Manager, at 781-316-3428 or at .