Climate change is already bringing more severe and frequent storms. Despite knowing the risks, state regulators have failed to require new homes and businesses be built with climate impacts in mind. We’re pushing to change that.
Extended heat waves, stronger nor’easters, more intense and frequent rainstorms – these are some of the climate impacts expected to affect New England. But they will hit some communities harder than others. Those living in urban areas with little tree cover, for example, suffer more when heat waves strike. The acres of buildings and pavement… Continue reading Here’s What Climate Action Led By and For the Community Looks Like
With climate impacts already affecting New England – from extended heat waves to heavier and more frequent rains – communities are turning their attention to protecting residents from ever-worsening climate fallout. These impacts will hit some communities harder than others, however. Those living in urban areas with little tree cover, for example, suffer more when heat… Continue reading This Community-led Project is Tackling Health and Climate Inequities
“This ad hoc, parcel-by-parcel, project-by-project resilience approach is not a long-term solution,” she said, asking instead for “a better strategy” to bring the development community into conversation and leverage new development to build protections that benefit the entire neighborhood.
Ensuring a just economic recovery from the pandemic means not following a business-as-usual model. Instead, we must prioritize people’s health, provide direct relief to families and individuals, and invest in the future of our communities.
No state here in New England has required its utilities to assess their vulnerability to climate change – or take action to prepare for it. With our homes, lives, and livelihoods at stake, allowing utilities to be so unprepared is irresponsible and simply too big a risk to take. CLF is pushing to change that – starting with Massachusetts.
Advocates cheered when President Biden reinstated the Obama-era flood protection standard among his first acts in office. The Biden administration is sending a clear signal that building according to climate patterns of the past is no longer acceptable – we must acknowledge and address increasingly frequent and extreme flooding caused by climate change. Reinstating the federal standard is a critical first step for increasing our national infrastructure’s climate resilience – one that signals the urgent need for action here at home.
The Green New Deal may be stalled on the federal level, but it’s always been local governments that move the needle on progress and have immediate, concrete impacts on our lives. Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu’s proposal – Planning for a Green New Deal & Just Recovery – is a great example of local action in the face of federal inertia, and offers an ambitious vision for Boston’s future.
Amid a raging pandemic, one that is hitting Black and Brown communities particularly hard, already-vulnerable communities find themselves even more threatened by the possibility of a significant storm hitting Massachusetts. That makes it more imperative than ever that we plan now for the storm season still to come.
“This rule is a critical step forward in preparing Boston for the impacts of the climate crisis we know are coming,” said Deanna Moran, Director of Environmental Planning at CLF. “Protecting natural resources does not have to come at the expense of critical climate adaptation measures, and this ordinance strikes the right balance.”
