Town Meeting Will Consider Two Climate Action Plan Articles

By Carol Britton Meyer

Two Town Meeting 2021 warrant articles relate to allocating funds to develop a climate action planning study and creating an 11-member climate action planning committee to oversee that process.

Such a plan would evaluate a wide range of carbon emission reduction strategies and propose measures to achieve a zero sum of these emissions produced and taken out of the atmosphere ("net zero") by 2040 or another target deemed feasible within the borders of Hingham.

This would be a town wide effort targeting the municipal, residential, and business sectors.

Hingham Net Zero member Laura Burns said recently during a public meeting that "a lot of personal activity will need to change [to fulfill the "net zero" goal], and Net Zero will help the community figure out how to do that."

This group is comprised of residents dedicated to raising awareness of the need for aggressive climate action; supporting the town’s efforts to cut emissions; and working to reduce carbon emissions across Hingham as quickly as possible through advocacy and education.