Leaders from 17 communities across Greater Boston came together on Monday to sign a shared commitment to keep the region on the same page in its response to climate change adaptation and mitigation. The Metro Mayors Coalition’s original climate preparedness commitment, signed 10 years ago, created a task force to guide regional climate decisions in a collaborative manner.
“This recommitment, after 10 years, is to advocate for necessary state and federal funding and a variety of things throughout the 17 cities and towns to protect us against climate impact,” said Marc Draisen, executive director of Metropolitan Area Planning Council.
The MAPC hosted the climate commitment–signing event Monday at the Boston Museum of Science, which featured U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Energy and Environmental Secretary Rebecca Tepper, among other speakers.
“Our cities and towns are shepherding strong climate action and a set of bold principles to set a strong example for the rest of the nation and the rest of the world,” Markey said in his remarks. “It shows what can be done. To date, the 17 communities in the coalition have been awarded more than $1.5 billion in federal funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law and from the Inflation Reduction Act.”
However, Markey acknowledged the Trump administration’s policies could be a major setback.
“We’re already seeing that they want to kill offshore wind. Vineyard wind is within months of being completed, but he’s taking aim at every other offshore wind project,” Markey said. “The battle for climate justice is twofold: We’re weathering the effects of the climate crisis while defending ourselves against a presidential administration set on axing the resources that keep us healthy.”
Wu said the federal government’s promotion of oil, gas and coal works against regional efforts to divest in fossil fuels.
“This federal administration isn’t just refusing to lead, they are working to actively undo so much of the progress that has been made,” she said.
Wu said she is concerned about how that divisions will hamper the teamwork required to address the climate crisis.
“This work is going to take all of us,” she said, “because a climate crisis doesn’t care about city limits.”
MAPC also hosted two panel discussions about climate and energy transformation with mayors, city leaders and state energy officials.
