Climate Change Goals For New Year Approved In Madison

MADISON, NJ — Furthering their commitment to climate leadership, the Madison Borough Council formally adopted a resolution in support of the Climate Change Goals for 2023 at its meeting on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023.

Madison's climate goals, according to Council member Rachel Ehrlich, are derived from the state's energy and resiliency goals.

"The idea is that these are actions that the Climate Action Committee is recommending that the borough review and adopt for actions we can pursue in the next 12 to 18 months that support the climate goals that were presented at our last meeting," Ehrlich said.

On Jan. 23, the Madison Borough Council heard a presentation on the ongoing Climate Action Plan, which highlighted the borough's efforts through 2022.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities praised Madison's Climate Plan as the culmination of the borough's efforts to help mitigate the risks of climate change.

Among the recommendations presented to the public include reducing transportation emissions, accelerating clean energy and reducing building emissions throughout the borough.

According to Ehrlich, the borough will make a concerted effort to discontinue the purchase of gas-powered non-emergency light-duty vehicles and replace existing fleet vehicles with plug-in electric vehicles.

Other possible recommendations include replacing existing heating, air conditioning, and hot water systems in municipal buildings that have reached the end of their useful life. These inefficient systems would be replaced with high-efficiency heat pump equipment.

During the first public comment period on Monday, a Madison resident asked the council to postpone the resolution's approval so that residents could better understand how the goals would affect them.

"There are a lot of things in there that are really not explained very well like, what does increased resiliency mean in the context of the climate action? Who makes the choices as to what monies are spent to meet these goals that we have? I think we need to put a little more debate into this," Chris Devivo said.

In response, Ehrlich clarified what the council was voting on, saying, that the resolution the council adopted does not automatically approve the list of recommendations that were presented at the meeting.

"This resolution is to adopt the 12 climate goals that were presented on Jan. 23, eight energy goals, and four resiliency goals," said Ehrlich.

Council member Eric Range stated that he supports the climate change recommendations and that there is no requirement for homeowners to comply with any aspect of the plan if they don't want to. People are not forced to "do something they don't want to do," he claimed.

"What I like about this set of goals the most is it largely focuses on things we would likely do anyway. There's nothing here about taking an existing house with a gas furnace and a gas stove and ripping them out of the wall and forcing people to do something," Range said.

Several residents spoke out in support of Madison's Climate Action Plan recommendations on Monday evening, praising the borough for taking the necessary steps and setting a good example for other communities to follow in terms of climate change action.

"I think that the climate action plan is really excellent. I really admire the council's approach to it because it is so fiscally responsible. It's embedded in the budget process, it's not about spending more money, it's about being smart," resident Claire Whitcomb said.