Medford Sets 32 Strategies To Combat Climate Change

MEDFORD, MA — City officials on Friday released a 36-age executive summary outlining Medford's plan to address climate change, ahead of the full release of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan later this fall.

The plan sets new goals for future efforts, like growing renewable energy sources and providing tools for property owners and tenants to prepare for climate hazards, as well as expands on ongoing work like protecting and growing the tree canopy, investing in stormwater maintenance, addressing food insecurity and increasing local food system resilience.

"Cities are among the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases, accounting for more than 70 percent of total emissions," Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said in a statement. "We need to act, now, to protect our community and our planet from increasing impacts of climate change. This Climate Action and Adaptation Plan will be critical in helping us take bold decisive action, and to continue on actions we have already started, to help shape the future of Medford and deliver a truly sustainable city for future generations."

Lungo-Koehn formally merged the offices of Community Development and Energy and Environment earlier this year to ensure environmentally sustainable practices are at the heart of Medford's planning and development strategies.

The release of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan summary is the latest in a series of actions the city of Medford has taken this year to address climate change and advance sustainable policies. This month, the city signed onto the global Cities Race to Zero Campaign, committing to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.

The formal CAAP will be released this fall.

"This plan is a vital tool in our city planning process and highlights key areas that we need to focus on – and in some instances already are focused on – in order to reduce our carbon footprint and increase accessibility and equity for the community," said Alicia Hunt, director of the Office of Planning, Development, and Sustainability. "It has taken innumerable hours of work to produce a roadmap that accurately addresses the environmental needs of the City of Medford and their sustainable solutions. I’d like to thank the many staff, residents and consultants that have spent time over the past two years on this effort."

The city has a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. In the coming month, the city will begin to adopt policy ideas to meet that goal, such as expanding diverse housing options to meet the needs of all residents, setting net zero energy and resiliency standards for new municipal construction, expanding local renewable energy sources, mitigating flooding using nature-based solutions like rainscaping, and making a substantial investment in stormwater infrastructure and sewer-system management.

While the plan sets short-, medium-, and long-range strategies for addressing climate resiliency, many initiatives have already started in Medford. Ongoing work that relates to the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan includes, but is not limited to:

Buildings & Energy

• Expanding EV charging stations citywide
• Hiring a Facilities Manager to oversee all municipal facilities, including preventative maintenance
• Installed solar panels at DPW, Library, & Police Station

Ecosystems & Natural Environment

• Launched a curbside composting program
• Expanding the City’s tree canopy with $188,000 allocated for planting in low- and moderate-income areas, $90,000 in CPA funding for public parks, increased tree planting funds in FY22 budget

Public Health

• Installed 19 micro food pantries
• Pledged to be hunger free by 2025
• Launched a Multilingual Resource Line
• Created a social justice road map

Transportation

• Installed Medford’s first dedicated bus lane on Mystic Ave.
• In the process of bringing a bike share program to Medford
• Expanding/adding dedicated bike lanes citywide

"As these and other projects came up with the development of the plan, we knew we couldn’t wait for its release to move these plans forward. Even before releasing this plan publicly, we are being responsive to the Plan itself, as well as to our commitment to a more sustainable Medford," Hunt said.

Development of the plan was made possible in part by a Planning Grant and an Action Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources’'Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program, particularly with early planning and development, and outreach and engagement with under-represented populations, the city said.

Read the executive summary here.