”People are already impacted by climate change ... And it’s only going to get worse if we don’t accelerate our move toward doing all that we can, using all of the tools at our disposal to be able to address that.”
Gouveia on climate change
By Katie Lannan
BOSTON (SHNS) – Officials in a handful of Massachusetts communities think they’ve cooked up a worthwhile strategy for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and want the state’s permission to try it out.
“Let us be your test kitchen,” Arlington Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine told lawmakers Tuesday. “Let Arlington, let Lexington, Brookline and Acton, others that are pursuing this — let us put this effort forward. The people of Arlington want it to go forward.”
Three bills before the Municipalities and Regional Government Committee, considered during a Zoom hearing, would prohibit fossil-fuel infrastructure in new buildings or those undergoing major renovations in Brookline, Lexington and Arlington. Rep. Tami Gouveia and Sen. Jamie Eldridge have also filed bills that would allow municipalities interested in pursuing such policies to do so without first receiving legislative approval …