The Healey-Driscoll Administration introduced the initiation of the Climate Leader Communities Program, a novel initiative provided by the Green Communities Division within the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER).
The newly minted initiative, designed to hitch climate objectives with local governance, beckons cities and towns to join the fray by setting emission-slash agendas and creating their decarbonization game plans, while the state ups the ante by pledging technical hand-holding and greenback incentives for the taking, as described in a press release acquired by Mass.gov. The program encouraged municipalities to adopt a bevy of environmentally conscious policies, including a zero-emission-first vehicle policy, embrace the Specialized Opt-In Building Code, and swear off on-site fossil fuels in municipal domains by the year 2050 to earn the climatically prestigious title.
“The Green Communities program has helped our cities and towns make significant investments to achieve their own clean energy goals and strengthen their economies,” Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper asserted in a statement.
Elizabeth Mahony, the DOER Commissioner, doubled down on the program’s merits, crediting the strategic partnerships with communities for expanding budgets and clean energy accessibility, stating, “Climate Leader Communities is a needed progression of our Green Communities program, which was created in 2008 with the passage of the Green Communities Act, and it will allow cities and towns to take their clean energy and emission reduction goals to the next level and work toward the Commonwealth’s goal of achieving net zero emissions in 2050.” a vision the Healey-Driscoll administration committed to, as told in the released press statement.
With the inaugural application round expected in the balmy zenith of 2024, allowing time for the towns to embrace the new building codes come spring, State Representative Jeffrey N. Roy championed the initiative, emphasizing its criticality for achieving the Commonwealth's ambitious climate mission—heralding a potential turning point for localized climate policy innovation by leveraging an array of advanced policy solutions, reported Mass.gov.
The Climate Leader Communities program will be funded from auction proceeds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Since its commencement in 2010, the Green Communities program has conferred Green Communities designations upon 291 municipalities in the Commonwealth. Through the program, over $170 million has been granted to these designated Green Communities.
