Massachusetts is promoting statewide climate goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and through a town climate action plan and resolution, Harvard could join that initiative. This was the message brought to a public meeting by the Planning Board subcommittee that is working to get the town to reduce and eventually eliminate its carbon footprint.
Harvard’s plan is being developed by members of the Community Resiliency Working Group in conjunction with the group’s other projects, which include a town climate resolution and the group’s MassEnergize website. The goal of these projects is not only to promote environmental sustainability and climate resiliency, but also to get Harvard residents involved in taking action on their own––“Commit. Act. Thrive,” as the CRWG motto states.
The plan
Last Thursday, CRWG held a public meeting to unveil its work and to invite public input. Adam Meier, one of the committee members, explained the purpose and outline of the plan. “We believe it to be solution oriented,” he said. “Certainly minimizing negative impacts of climate change is an important component, but we also really wanted to kind of position this work … as an opportunity to enhance the community and the ecosystems that we all rely on.” Chris Ryan, Harvard’s director of community and economic development, added that “solution oriented” means implementing “nature-based solutions,” or ways of “working with nature to address societal challenges” through the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of local ecosystems.
Through implementing the climate action plan, the CRWG hopes to decrease Harvard’s greenhouse gas emissions and increase its sustainability and resiliency in a changing climate, Meier said.
Ryan explained that consulting group Kim Lundgren Associates first outlined a climate action plan for Harvard last year, but the Municipal Vulnerabilities Program grant the town received for the project was not enough to cover the cost of an entire plan. The CRWG has taken this initial outline and developed one that suits the town’s needs, Ryan said.
The climate action plan features a framework of several categories relating to different aspects of the town, and each section is led by both a town committee and a CRWG liaison to ensure that the community is working together to develop the plan, Meier explained. The main categories are energy, ecosystems, mobility and land use, social capital, economy, and implementation—each of which is paired with several subcategories. For instance, agriculture is an element of “mobility and land use,” and natural systems preservation and protection is one of many elements of “ecosystems.”
In addition to developing the framework for the climate action plan, CRWG has also already drafted the agriculture section of the plan and received funding for two of the other categories––transportation and hazard mitigation, Meier said.
Community input
With 46 attendees at the Sept. 23 meeting, the CRWG received a lot of community input. One resident, Tim Schmoyer, asked about incorporating the goals of the town’s Master Plan with those of the climate action plan, and asked if these goals conflicted. Ryan explained in response that the two plans are to be merged. “The hope is, at least on my part,” he said, “that we can make the Master Plan and this climate action plan more synthesized and actually make it one and the same.” Ryan also noted that one of these goals is to rezone Harvard’s commercial district in a sustainable way, making it walkable.
Schmoyer also asked if the town is considering implementing electric vehicle charging stations. CRWG chair Ellen Sachs Leicher said one charging station will be put in at Hildreth Elementary School, but state funding is available for more and the town is considering other locations—the Bromfield School, the library, McCurdy Track, and potentially the General Store as long as the charging station is located on public land. According to Ryan, the climate action plan will include “sustainable energy provisions” for development, meaning zoning requirements for electric vehicle charging stations in parking lots and solar or other non-carbon energy sources in buildings.
Two other questions arose, which Sachs Leicher addressed by saying that the group is considering these issues for future projects. For instance, Abbe Alpert asked if town funds will be spent to sustain healthy forests, and Michael Kilian asked about the possibility of a “more aggressive charging model” for the Transfer Station.
Concerns
When CRWG member Lucy Wallace asked the attendees what climate-related hazards they want to see addressed in the climate action plan, some of the biggest concerns were severe weather and stormwater management, infrastructure, and invasive species.
Sachs Leicher concluded the meeting by asking everyone to vote in favor of adopting the town climate resolution at Town Meeting on Oct. 16. (See Sachs Leicher’s “Consider This: Adopting a town resolution should be part of Harvard’s plan to address climate change)
In addition to adopting this resolution and supporting the development of the climate action plan, residents can also get involved in this initiative by joining the CRWG, committing to sustainability actions on MassEnergize, and participating in other events and campaigns the committee is hosting. More information can be found on the CRWG website, harvardsclimateinitiative.org.
