Boston Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu issued an executive order this week prohibiting the use of fossil fuels in new construction and renovation projects for city buildings.
Wu claimed that the effort would reduce emissions from the city’s construction sector while creating jobs and improving public health, as well as advance “racial and economic justice.”
“Week after week, we see the signs of extreme heat, storms, and flooding that remind us of a closing window to take climate action,” she said in the statement. “The benefits of embracing fossil fuel-free infrastructure in our city hold no boundary across industries and communities, and Boston will continue using every possible tool to build the green, clean, healthy, and prosperous future our city deserves.”
Oliver Sellers-Garcia, an official appointed last year to serve as the inaugural Green New Deal director for Boston, added that the city has adopted an “all-of-government approach” to address carbon emissions. Some 2.3% of emissions in Boston arise from the city’s government.
Wu, who was elected to her current position two years ago, had vowed to make Boston a “worldwide beacon for climate action and environmental justice.” She asserted on her campaign website that racial minorities and immigrants are more severely impacted by climate change.
“Communities of color, low-income and working-class families, and immigrant communities are more likely to see environmental hazards and face exposure to pollution, urban heat island effect, flooding, and other impacts of climate change,” the website said. “As we take action on climate change, Boston’s decision-makers must adopt a procedural justice framework that lifts up the voices, ideas and power of historically marginalized communities into processes for setting agendas and implementing policies.”
Physical buildings account for 39% of worldwide carbon emissions, 11% of which emerges from the construction of new buildings, according to an estimate from the World Green Building Council. Nations such as China, however, account for the largest shares of worldwide construction, according to data from the International Trade Administration. China has also continued to approve new coal projects and other fossil fuel initiatives significantly faster than other nations, particularly those with governments seeking to battle climate change.
President Joe Biden has nevertheless advanced a "whole-of-government approach to addressing the climate crisis” similar to the one adopted in Boston. The administration launched efforts last year to “electrify and cut emissions from new or newly renovated federal buildings.”
Democratic lawmakers recently attempted to reintroduce the federal Green New Deal, a bill proposing broad changes to the American economy for the purpose of decarbonization. The effort would also increase funds allocated toward federal healthcare and education agencies.
