On Saturday Somerville joined over 1,400 communities across the country in calling on Congress to take action to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050.  Locally, the Step It Up climate action rally attracted over 200 residents to Statue Park in Davis Square.  Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone took the occasion to announce a new sustainability initiative:

“ …I am pleased to announce to all of you here today that we’ve drafted and will soon be releasing the city’s first Environmental Strategic Plan.

‚ÄúIn this plan, we‚Äôve set as a firm goal that Somerville will obtain at least 10 percent of our total municipal energy requirements from renewable sources by 2010. The plan includes execution of an Energy Performance Contract, or ESCO. Through the ESCO, we will reduce energy demand at city owned buildings by at least 20 percent by 2009.   

In addition, starting next year, the City’s purchasing decisions will reflect a preference for products with an increasing share of renewable materials and post consumer or recycled content, and we’re building sustainability into all our purchasing procedures,

“This summer, we’ll be switching our City vehicle fleet to blended biodiesel, & we’ll be expanding both education and enforcement on our anti-idling regulations. You’ll be hearing more about the specifics of this plan in the days to come, and I look forward to working with all of you here today do our part to fight climate change together.”