Climate Emergency Frequently Asked Questions

The Climate Emergency Declaration (CED) is a citizen petition article to be voted on at the May 2022 Sudbury Town Meeting. It is an official acknowledgment by the people of Sudbury that all of humanity including Sudbury is in a climate emergency – a dangerous situation calling for immediate action.  To date, 23 Massachusetts municipalities have made similar declarations, including our neighbors Acton and Wayland.

By this the citizens authorize and call on town departments and committees to take immediate steps to consider the effects and causes of climate change in all that they do. This is already in the master plan but the declaration emphasizes the seriousness of the situation and the urgency of action and sets target dates for greenhouse gas reduction in line with the State targets.

The CED also calls on the town to form a committee to create a Climate Mobilization Action Plan to be presented by the next town meeting. And it calls for the hiring of a full time Sustainability Director who will coordinate climate and other sustainability and resilience actions.

The Climate Emergency Declaration acknowledges the real threats of climate change to our way of life!

The Climate Emergency Declaration tasks the town with hiring a Sustainability Director and creating an Action Plan to help town government, businesses and residents respond to our unfolding and pervasive climate emergency. The Sustainability Director is also a resource and creates benefits for the town by identifying opportunities to take advantage of state and federal programs and funding. 

Climate Change is basically a problem of Sustainability. It is the most urgent sustainability problem but not the only one.

Acting sustainably simply means doing things in ways that can be sustained indefinitely, and avoiding things that cannot. Depending on fossil fuels for energy is unsustainable both because it is finite and polluting. Using solar energy and other renewable energy sources is sustainable.

Natural systems work together to keep heat trapping Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) at stable levels. Human extraction, burning, and leaking of fossil fuels over the past century has emitted enormous, increasing amounts of CO2 and Methane (natural gas) GHGs into the atmosphere, faster than natural systems can remove them. Human disruption of natural ecosystems for farming, mining, building, etc. releases their stored carbon as CO2 and reduces their capacity to remove GHG. Excess GHGs trap too much of the sun’s radiated heat, making the planet’s temperature rise. This rise (which is rapid by geological standards) changes the climate faster than bio-systems and human systems can adapt.

In other words, our global GHG emissions together with our disruption of natural systems is unsustainable. But we depend on our natural world in many ways. So even when our GHG emissions become sustainable we will still need to end, amend or replace our other unsustainable activities and deal with the effects.

The scientific evidence is clear. The climate is changing, and human activity is the main factor in the acceleration of climate change over the past century. Even if humans are successful at limiting the root causes of our warming planet, our human infrastructure and other systems are facing significant impacts—from more frequent and severe weather, ocean warming and acidification, extended periods of drought and extreme temperatures, and other effects of climate change. The ability to prepare for, recover from, and adapt to these impacts is called “climate resilience.”

A Sustainability Director will ensure benefits for residents:

• Positive fiscal impact with laser focus on climate change and sustainability issues
• Strengthen town finances by leading efficiency and clean energy projects and taking advantage of state and federal programs and funding
• Act as a resource for residents and businesses looking for information on sustainability
• Streamline efforts of diverse committees and boards throughout town government
• Coordination with regional initiatives

No one in Sudbury town government has the time or the expertise or the scope and authority to do this job. It also could not be done by volunteers.

The Oxford American dictionary defines emergency as a serious, unexpected and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action. Climate change is a present danger to our public health, our infrastructure, our environment, and our economy — our whole way of life.

Climate change differs from other emergencies that Sudbury must face in that it is long term and caused by the whole of humanity. But climate resiliency requires effective local action and effective climate mitigation needs each individual, town, and nation to do their parts. It requires immediate action because it is accelerating so delay now will lead to exponentially worse outcomes in the future.

It is time for Sudbury to join the growing movement of Massachusetts towns actively and strategically working on these problems. 

Climate change is accelerating because human civilization is continuing to burn fossil fuels, clear-cut forests, disrupt ocean ecosystems, etc., adding to the already high amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG) in air and sea. More GHG means the heat from the sun accumulates faster and temperature increases faster, i.e. acceleration. But that’s not all:

• More heat means more evaporation, and water vapor is another potent GHG, leading to further acceleration.
• Higher temperatures and human activity damage ecosystems, reducing their ability to remove GHG from the air, leading to further acceleration.
• Rising temperatures and droughts make huge wildfires more common, unlocking vast stores of GHG, leading to further acceleration.
• As the temperature rises various tipping points will pass, for example melting tundra releasing vast amounts of methane (a potent GHG) that had been locked in the frozen ground, causing further acceleration.

All these things together put more and more stress on human societies, economies, health, and infrastructure, and on natural systems on which all life depends. Increasing speed makes it harder for nature to adapt to changing conditions and much harder and more costly for civilization to build resilience and keep up with it all.

Our CMAP will provide at minimum:

• an estimate of present community-wide greenhouse gas emissions from the Town of Sudbury broken down by sector (e.g., electricity, transportation, heating, etc.),
• an estimate of community-wide 1990 baseline greenhouse gas emissions for the Town of Sudbury,
• a method for estimating benefits and costs of potential changes and actions relative to the ‘business as usual’ case,
• a menu of strategies, tactics, and policies for the residents, businesses, and municipal government of Sudbury to reduce their share of greenhouse gas emissions and sequester greenhouse gasses,
• plans for community outreach, engagement, and education to facilitate implementation and,
• plans to ensure that the costs of the required mobilization do not unfairly burden those who are economically or socially disadvantaged, and that the realized benefits of a more just and sustainable future accrue to all;

Town buildings, etc. are a relatively small part of the total town GHG emissions. To be meaningful the CMAP will also include ways to educate residents and businesses how to voluntarily reduce their emissions.

Net zero simply means that any greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) released are balanced by an equal amount being taken out of the atmosphere.

A Passive House is a very well insulated, virtually airtight building that is primarily heated by passive solar gains and internal heat gains from occupants, cooking, bathing, electrical equipment, etc. Control of summer heat through passive and active shading, window orientation and passive ventilation helps to limit the cooling load.

Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the “post-carbon economy”).[1] The term is used in the context of carbon dioxide-releasing processes associated with transportation, energy production, agriculture, and industry.

Community-wide emissions refers to the GHG emissions of the entire community including government, schools, businesses and residences, landfills, farms, and natural areas.

Climate change is already having serious negative impacts on health throughout the world. Extreme storms and other weather events result in serious and sometimes fatal injury, while prolonged heat waves can cause heat exhaustion, heat cramps, heat stroke, and death. Higher temperatures also lead to an increase in allergens and harmful air pollutants, exacerbating pre-existing chronic conditions, such as various respiratory, cerebral, and cardiovascular diseases. Increased water temperatures can cause algal blooms, which jeopardize the quality of our drinking water. Increased wildfires, both distant and local*, cause health harming particulate air pollution. A warmer climate also increases the reproduction rate of disease carrying insects raising the incidence of vector-borne disease. There is now year-round threat of tick born diseases such as (Lyme Disease) due to inconsistent freeze cycles during the winter.

Another public health concern that is often forgotten is mental health from the stress of climate anxiety and uncertainty about our future, particularly among our young people.**

Also worth mentioning is the public health benefit arising through cleaner air from replacing gas stoves, diesel school buses, police vehicles and fossil fuel burners in general with electric.

According to an article in EOS Science News, expenditure on health care attributed to climate change and fossil fuel use is at least $820 billion each year in the United States.*** We cannot afford NOT to take action.

*  https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/over-100-firefighters-fighting-large-brush-fire-that-is-impacting-the-appalachian-trail/2382793/
** https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/06/health/climate-anxiety-therapy.html
** https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/news/2021/11/04/climate-anxiety-impacting-lives-gen-z-climate-awareness-change-hope-distress/8538600002/
*** https://eos.org/articles/health-costs-from-climate-soar-to-820-billion