2023-Sierran-digital - Flipbook - Page 6
Growing an Intersectional Movement for a Green New Deal
in Boston
By Michele Brooks
At the beginning of 2022, following the sweeping
victory of Michelle Wu as Mayor of Boston,
local community organizations in the climate and
environmental, health, housing, transportation, labor,
and economic justice spaces began coming together
around the vision for an equitable and just transition
to a clean energy economy, and formed the Boston
Green New Deal coalition. As a candidate, Michelle
Wu released a Green New Deal plan for Boston, and
within her 昀椀rst year as mayor she appointed the city’s
inaugural Green New Deal Director. Given these
actions, our coalition saw a unique opportunity to
collaborate with the Wu administration and advance
key priorities related to our issues. In addition, we
recognized the power of a broad, intersectional
coalition to hold the administration accountable to
the implementation of our priorities.
Throughout 2023, the coalition has been tracking
funding opportunities made available through the
federal In昀氀ation Reduction Act (IRA), the nation’s
largest investment in climate change mitigation. We
have supported the city on proposals for electric
school buses and building retro昀椀ts for affordable
housing developments. Together, we have celebrated
some major accomplishments alongside the
administration.
In February, the city launched a pilot of 20 electric
school buses servicing 42 schools across nearly every
neighborhood, with plans to fully electrify the school
bus 昀氀eet by 2030. In March, the city announced the
creation of a Large Building Green Energy Retro昀椀t
program, dedicating $10 million to assist affordable
housing developments in the transition off fossil fuels.
The program provides $50,000 per unit for deep energy
retro昀椀t work including energy ef昀椀ciency upgrades
and installing renewable energy sources like solar. A
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similar program was initiated in September for small
multi-family buildings with 2-4 units. The Healthy
and Green Retro昀椀t Pilot Program offers forgivable
loans of up to $50,000 per unit for decarbonization
and electri昀椀cation work, in addition to comprehensive
energy assessments.
Buildings account for 70 percent of the city’s
greenhouse gas emissions, with residential buildings
responsible for 50 percent of the emissions. Nearly
80 percent of Boston’s buildings require deep
energy retrofits. Therefore, it is essential that the
city continues to support building owners in the
decarbonization process in order to meet its goal of
being a carbon free Boston by 2050.
Another building decarbonization effort underway is
the development of the Building Emissions Reduction
and Disclosure Ordinance regulations, or BERDO.
This policy targets large buildings, over 20,000 square
feet, to reduce their emissions down to net zero by
2050. It establishes an Equitable Investment Fund to
support local emission reduction projects that bene昀椀t
environmental justice neighborhoods in Boston and
prioritize air quality improvements, reduced energy
burden, housing stabilization, workforce development
and access to green jobs, clean energy installations.
In October, the city of Boston received an $11 million
Urban and Community Forestry grant through the IRA
which will be used to enhance the city’s tree canopy
and bolster workforce development opportunities.
The funding will support increased access to trees
in historically marginalized communities, and the
expansion of PowerCorps Boston, a “earn and learn”
program that provides training in forestry skills
for young adults living in environmental justice
communities to prepare them for careers in green
industries. Additionally, the funding will allow for
improved tree care and maintenance, and an increase
in plantings to grow the urban tree canopy.
We are excited about the opportunities that lay
ahead as we continue to partner with the Wu
administration to expand upon these initiatives and
further the implementation of an equitable and just
Green New Deal for Boston. To learn more about
the Boston Green New Deal Coalition, visit https://
www.bostongndcoalition.org/. To learn more about
our building electri昀椀cation campaign in Boston, visit
https://bit.ly/MASC-addup.
