18

Local Action Roundup

• Portland, OR, Rolls Out Curbside Food Composting, Maybe in a Neighborhood Near You (Oregon Live)
• Green Streets and Bike Boulevards: a Smart Investment in Portland, OR's, Future (Oregon Live)
• New Report Outlines Policies to Slash Energy Waste and Boost Cleantech in North Carolina (ACEEE)
• San Mateo County, CA, Kicks off Energy Efficiency Programs for Homeowners (Examiner)
• It’s Lights Out for Broward County, FL, Businesses and Residents (Hollywood Gazette)
• Why Hermosa Beach, CA, is Going Carbon Neutral (Daily Breeze)
• Ocean Gate, NJ, invests in Wind Turbine Technology (New Jersey Monthly)
• Nassau County Gets a Solar Boost (Long Island Press)
• San Antonio, TX, Continues to Grow as 'Green City' (Biz Journals)

From Beantown to Greentown: Success at Boston's Climate Action Workshops

(Photo credit: Craig Stevens via Flickr Creative Commons)

Hundreds of Boston youth and adults poured into five climate action workshops that took place across the city over the past four weeks. By several measures, the events were a huge success.

Charged by Mayor Menino last year to update Boston’s Climate Action Plan, the City’s Climate Action Leadership Committee organized the series of workshops as a means of seeking input from the public, enhancing awareness and garnering support for future climate action involvement.

The Climate Action Workshops, which took place from February 27 through March 15, were highly successful in engaging a diverse group of residents, businesses, community organizations, institutions and city government, alike. Neighborhoods of different socio-economic backgrounds were represented, including Jamaica Plain, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, the North End, East Boston, Fenway, Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan. Residents learned about the details of the City’s climate action plan as well as strategies to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions via transportation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy proposals. The workshops proved to be an exciting opportunity for residents to feed into the climate action planning process while learning about ways to shrink their individual carbon footprints, boost the green economy, and adapt to unavoidable climate impacts.

Workshop audiences heard presentations from city officials and community leaders and were given a chance to respond to certain concerns and climate action proposals as a collective voice in real time with the use of keypad polling devices. Facilitated discussion groups allowed participants to offer insightful feedback and speak up in a comfortable environment. Residents across the City had an opportunity to voice their concerns about pressing issues specific to their communities. For example, environmental justice communities spoke up about the need for more local and long-term green jobs. All citizen input via polling and round-table discussion was collected with the help of Interaction Institute, a nonprofit organization committed to positive social change, and will be disseminated back to the City for use in their climate action planning.

In 2007, Mayor Menino issued an Executive Order to reduce the City of Boston’s greenhouse gas emissions 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. These aggressive reduction targets along with the Climate Action Community Workshops are just two of the City’s many innovative efforts in the works to turn Beantown into Greentown. To learn more about the City of Boston’s ongoing sustainability efforts, visit the City of Boston website.