Event Description

Are your curious about Net Zero? Want to learn more?? Join MCAN board members Henrietta Davis and Tammy Peterson at an event this Thursday! BCEC is hosting a forum on Thursday to discuss Net Zero, maximizing energy efficiency and local, renewable sources of energy.

Who: Boston Clean Energy Coalition (BCEC)
What: How do we get to Net Zero?
When: Thursday, June 15th at 7:30 pm
Where: First Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist (6 Eliot St, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts 02130)

What is Net Zero? A Net Zero municipality produces zero net carbon pollution, the pollution that causes climate change. This means the community gets as much electricity from renewable sources as it uses. Getting to net zero usually comes from a combination of energy efficiency improvements, local clean energy production, and purchasing of renewable energy.

Why would a town want to be Net Zero? MA made a commitment in state law (the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008) to cut our climate change-causing pollution 80% by 2050. Cleaning up our energy supply and using less electricity in our buildings is key, and cities and towns are taking action.

The most effective work to create a clean energy future needs to happen in our cities and towns. We can be more nimble, targeted, and successful than the federal government and move our country forward by taking steps locally to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Boston has a tremendous opportunity to show how our state and our nation can accelerate this transition by maximizing energy efficiency and local, renewable sources of energy. The initial Imagine Boston 2030 report describes a major construction boom but does not call for the state-of-the-art efficiency requirements essential to keeping this development from locking us into new fracked- gas infrastructure to power new buildings and decades of dependence on fossil fuels.

We urgently need net-zero carbon requirements for all new buildings in Boston. This forum asks the question: How do we make net-zero carbon construction happen in Boston? There are certainly technical, financial, legal, and political challenges, but how do we get to YES?


Jamaica Plain Forum:

A program of the The First Church in Jamaica Plain, Unitarian Universalist, the Jamaica Plain Forum is a free, public series of discussions, lectures, workshops, films, and events addressing current topics of interest to the Jamaica Plain community.

Boston Clean Energy Coalition (BCEC):

BCEC is currently comprised of leaders from the groups below. We hope to accelerate the transition to a clean, green economy by fostering collaboration among sectors that include city development, community development, architecture, finance, academia, labor, environmentalists, and faith-based organizations. We seek strong, democratic political leadership and a process that develops sound public policy—both of which must have a constant and concerned eye on our future.