by Ellen Sachs Leicher ·
Friday, May 8, 2026
The town lost an opportunity to have solar for the electricity needs of our public buildings at Town Meeting. A majority supported it, but it lost the two-thirds vote needed by 14 votes. We lost a way to have solar installed at no cost to us and also save the town money on its future electricity costs.
We pride ourselves as climate leaders; we earned the highest designation for climate leadership in the commonwealth. Nearly everyone who spoke against the town articles said, “I support solar.” Yet they opposed the article, and only 20% of town residents have solar on their homes, on their land, or are members of the Harvard Solar Garden. Many say their house can’t support solar because it faces the wrong direction; this isn’t true of 80% of homes that don’t have solar.
The time has come for all those who say they support solar to actually do it-—to take action to support their words.
There are multiple ways to do this and our solar coaches are here to help. Look into solar, not just on your roof but ground-mounted on your property or join a solar farm in the state which supplies green energy to the grid and supports local jobs. This last option costs you nothing and earns you a 10% discount off your current electric bill.
The motivation to take action is clear: Our children and grandchildren will live to 2100 when the warming climate will have caused irreversible changes. The planet is heating up faster than the predictions of a few years ago. Technology will not come soon enough if at all. The trees, waterways, and species that we cherish will not survive if everyone doesn’t do their part. I, for one, don’t want to leave this failing planet to the next generations. I care too much. I hope you all do too.
Ellen Sachs Leicher
Chair, Harvard Climate Initiative Committee