Climate change is real. We now live daily with its effects, locally as well as globally. Most of us recognize there is an urgent need to take action to reduce carbon emissions. We realize that we must begin to consider the downstream consequences of many of the decisions we make, including, for example, what kind of vehicles we buy and how we heat and cool our buildings.
And this, in a nutshell, is what the resolution we’ll be voting on at our Oct. 16 Town Meeting does. It affirms Harvard’s commitment to support Massachusetts’ emissions reduction goals: a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030 and net-zero by 2050. It affirms our desire to evaluate the environmental consequences of our town decisions. It further calls upon the Select Board to put together a reasonable process to help the town meet these goals.
I urge my fellow residents to support this resolution. It has the support of the Select Board, the Finance Committee, the Capital Planning and Investment Committee, the Conservation Commission, the Planning Board, the Transportation Advisory Committee, the Harvard Energy Advisory Committee, the Harvard Conservation Trust, and the Council on Aging, to name but a few.
It appears that the Parks and Recreation Commission is the only organization in town that has not endorsed the resolution. As far as I can tell, they based their rejection on the lack of detail in the language, particularly when it comes to whatever new processes will be established. It’s true that the language isn’t specific. That is as it should be. This is a resolution, not a bylaw. Quite appropriately, I believe, the resolution asks the Select Board to establish the process.
I can understand the concerns of those who want to avoid an unduly burdensome or too far-reaching process. I’d suggest, however, that that is a secondary and separate issue. Should we give guidance to the Select Board? Absolutely, we should. But we should support the resolution itself. The goal is worthy, and the need is too great to delay.
Jane Biering
Littleton County Road
