Somerville resident Larry Yu made a presentation to the Somerville City Council emphasizing the importance of acknowledging the need for passage of the federal Green New Deal resolution.

By Jim Clark

At the latest regular meeting of the Somerville City Council on September 12, a resolution was put forward and approved that affirms the federal Green New Deal resolution by establishing goals, identifying actions necessary to meet these goals, and calling for the federal government to enact policies to advance a Green New Deal.

Speaking in favor of the resolution, sponsor Ward Seven City Councilor and Council President Katjana Ballantyne said, “I submitted this resolution because I felt that it sums up the work that we’ve been doing in the City Council for the last five years and that it highlights the intersection of climate, housing, jobs, infrastructure, and equity. We’ve worked on many of these issues. I really want to emphasize at every turn that we should be looking at how we can mitigate climate change. This resolution recaps and chronicles the commitment by our city on climate change, and it is imperative to ensure these commitments are implemented. Climate change is real, it’s happening.”

Ballantyne sponsored Somerville resident Larry Yu, who offered a presentation highlighting the need for support of the federal resolution, after which co-sponsoring Councilors expressed their support for the city’s resolution.

The Somerville City Council resolution affirming the Green New Deal reads in part as follows:

“WHEREAS, the Somerville City Council affirms the federal Green New Deal resolution by establishing goals, identifying actions necessary to meet these goals, and calling for the federal government to enact policies to advance a Green New Deal; and

WHEREAS, an October 2018 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states that human beings have only until 2030 to limit global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius (C) to avoid a climate catastrophe; and

WHEREAS, the 2018 IPCC report also states that every bit of warming matters, so every fraction of a degree less of warming will save lives and pay dividends across the world’s economies; and

WHEREAS, even with global temperature rise of +0.8 (C), the world is already experiencing impacts from climate change, including total loss of Arctic sea ice and accelerated glacier melting, more intense hurricanes, unprecedented flooding, and more frequent and longer-burning wildfires; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. spends $100 billion per year in climate change disaster recovery, and a business-as-usual scenario will further increase economic and environmental disruptions due to storms, longer and hotter heat waves, worsening flood and drought cycles, rising sea levels, increased wildfires, and ecological breakdown with accelerated species extinction rates, ecosystem disruption, and environmental migration; and

WHEREAS, in 2014, the Mayor of Somerville committed the City of Somerville to become carbon neutral by 2050; and

WHEREAS, in 2017, the Office of Sustainability and Environment issued the first Climate Neutrality Pathway Assessment, which identified the primary pathways for the City to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050; and

WHEREAS, in 2017, the Office of Sustainability and Environment issued the first Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, which identified the direct impacts of climate stressors on the City of Somerville; and

WHEREAS, in 2018, the Office of Sustainability and Environment issued the first Somerville Climate Forward climate action plan, which included a suite of actions to reduce GHG emissions and prepare the City for the impacts of climate change; and

WHEREAS, in 2012, the Somerville Planning Board adopted, and the Board of Aldermen endorsed, the SomerVision comprehensive plan for 2010-2030, which among other things affirmed core values to “Invest in the growth of a resilient economic base,” and “Build a sustainable future through strong environmental leadership,” and included specific goals to “Preserve and expand an integrated, balanced mix of safe, affordable and environmentally sound rental and homeownership units,” to “Mitigate displacement of low and moderate income residents,” and to “Invest in the talents, skills and education of people to support growth and provide opportunities to residents of all social and economic levels”; and

WHEREAS, in June 2017, the Board of Aldermen passed a resolution to affirm the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement; and

WHEREAS, the City’s Climate Forward report identifies the actions necessary for Somerville to contribute to limiting global warming, and adapt to a changing climate; and

WHEREAS, the City’s Climate Forward report emphasizes the need to “Fairly distribute the opportunities created by climate action and work to alleviate the unequal burdens of climate change”; and

WHEREAS, a 2017 study published in Environmental Research found that urban communities of color and people with low incomes in Massachusetts are more impacted by air pollution, particularly in the forms of particulate matter and nitrogen oxides from proximity to roadways; and

WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency has recognized that fine and ultrafine particulate matter is associated with increased health risks, including but not limited to premature death in people with heart or lung disease, aggravated asthma and increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing or difficulty breathing; and

WHEREAS, the New Deal demonstrated that federal government actions, such as investing in infrastructure and housing, creating employment programs, regulating financial institutions, and bolstering the labor movement, can be effective in significantly reducing poverty and income inequality; however, the New Deal’s lack of focus on racial equity resulted in worsening existing racial and economic disparities, with long-term negative impacts to the economic mobility and security of communities of color, especially Black and Native communities; and

WHEREAS, decades of de facto and de jure racial discrimination in housing, education, and employment have prevented people of color from benefitting fully from public investments and programs; and

WHEREAS, the greatest and most harmful impacts of climate change are falling disproportionately on lower-income communities and communities of color globally; however, these communities have contributed the least to the cumulative global emissions that are causing climate change and are least equipped to adapt to the impacts; and

WHEREAS, because the United States has emitted more global GHGs since the Industrial Revolution than any other nation, the United States and its cities have a moral obligation to make significant cuts to emissions and invest in building the resilience of vulnerable communities on the frontlines of climate change, locally and globally; and

WHEREAS, doing what is now necessary to adequately address the climate crisis requires a national mobilization of a scope and scale that presents a historic opportunity to address inequities caused and exacerbated by the fossil fuel economy and eliminate energy poverty and disparities in clean energy access in the United States; and

WHEREAS, spurred by the advocacy of climate justice activists and other community organizers, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sponsored House Resolution 109 calling for a federal Green New Deal, with 94 United States Congress members cosponsoring; and

WHEREAS, the federal Green New Deal resolution directs the federal government to create a detailed mobilization plan to eliminate GHG emissions by 2030, invest in communities on the frontlines of poverty and pollution, and guarantee a good job to anyone ready and willing to embrace a clean and equitable energy transition; and

WHEREAS, local governments calling for the federal government to pass a Green New Deal will help to demonstrate widespread popular support for necessary and just climate action; NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,

Section 1. The Somerville City Council supports policies that promote strong families and communities, including paid family and sick leave, affordable child care, universal health care, and high-quality, free educational opportunities for all as laid out by the federal Green New Deal resolution and urges the United States Congress to pass the Green New Deal.

Section 2. The Somerville City Council recognizes that, while it has made some progress towards reducing its dependence on fossil fuels, that progress is insufficient to make the necessary changes to shift Somerville’s economy to be more equitable and ecologically sustainable.

Section 3. The Somerville City Council envisions a future where Somerville residents can live healthy, prosperous lives, free of toxic chemicals and fossil fuels, and the social and ecological well-being of all people is prioritized over the profits of private corporations.”

The remainder of the resolution specifies how the resolution is to be implemented. The full text of the resolution is available for review on the city’s website at http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=2976&Format=Minutes.