Cambridge earns Climate Leader title: What it means for the city

Cambridge has been recognized as a Climate Leader Community by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, according to a community announcement.

The certification is awarded to communities that meet specific criteria, including having a local climate committee; a plan to eliminate on-site fossil fuels by 2050; and a commitment to purchasing zero-emission municipal vehicles.

“Meeting the requirements of this certification is transformative for a community,” said Julie Wormser, Cambridge’s chief climate officer, in a statement. “It involves a lot of vision, investment, and hard work by the City Council, staff, businesses, institutions, and community members. We need to make sure that the investments we make in clean energy also increase our affordability, neighborliness, beauty and resilience as we live into a climate-altered future.”

As a certified Climate Leader Community, Cambridge is eligible for up to $150,000 for technical studies and up to $1 million in decarbonization accelerator grants, according to the announcement.

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“Cambridge is a center of innovation,” Wormser said. “We want to make sure that anything we learn through our efforts to decarbonize will help lower the bar for other communities to do so as well.”

Cambridge has launched several initiative to support climate goals

The city has already launched several initiatives to support its climate goals. The most recent is the Solar Assistance Program, which provides no-cost support to Cambridge businesses, nonprofits and owners of commercial and large residential buildings to install solar panels. Other programs include Electrify Cambridge, the Cambridge Community Electricity Program and community solar.

“Following decades of success in reducing energy use and costs, Climate Leader Communities inspire us with their dedication to build healthy, sustainable communities,” said Elizabeth Mahony, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources commissioner, in a statement. “These cities and towns will build high-performance buildings, generate local, clean energy, electrify their fleets, and increase community engagement and education. Congratulations to Cambridge on your commitment to protecting your residents and our climate.”

For more information on Cambridge’s climate and sustainability efforts, visit cambridgema.gov/sustainable.

This story was created by reporter Beth McDermott, bmcdermott1@gannett.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct or share your thoughts at http://bit.ly/3RapUkA with our News Automation and AI team.