On June 21, 2022 the City Council unanimously passed a declaration of climate emergency, joining over 20 over municipalities in the state to do so.

The declaration was proposed by the Framingham Sustainability Committee whose duty is to provide recommendations to the Mayor, Sustainability Coordinator, Energy Task Force, City Council, & School Committee for new policies & programs. It was presented to the Environmental & Sustainability Subcommittee (on which I sit) who voted unanimously to recommend approval to the full Council.

Its purpose is to formally acknowledge, by the Framingham government, the existence & severity of climate change in order to leverage support for additional action, resources, & funding to engage the community in creating a climate action plan and shift the mindset from “business as normal” to “emergency mode.”

“NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of Framingham hereby declares that a Climate Emergency threatens our city, state, and nation, as well as humanity broadly, and that a mobilization to meet this challenge is both a moral imperative and an unprecedented opportunity to stabilize the climate, remedy environmental harms, create clean-energy jobs, and improve human lives.”