Select Board backs Canton Climate Action Plan
By Mike BergerThe Canton Select Board on Tuesday approved a new Climate Action Plan (CAP) and authorized Town Administrator Charles Doody to work with the town’s Sustainability and Climate Action Committee to hire a consultant to assist with grant writing and implementation of the plan.
Both the committee and Doody will decide on the scope of work for the consultant and draw up a formal Request for Proposals, with the funding for the position to be paid out of mitigation funds controlled by the board.
The framework of the new CAP was endorsed by voters at Annual Town Meeting in 2023. The plan has been in the development stages for the last 18 months.
The board was very receptive to the plan presented by Tom Birmingham, chair of the Climate Action Committee, and Jen Wexler, vice chair, with the only caveat being that the board was not ready to approve or take action on recommended adoption of the Specialized Energy Code, which would impact future construction.
Both Select Board Chair JR McCourt and former chair Mike Loughran said they want to hear input from the town’s Economic Development Committee, representatives from the construction and building industries, and town building and electrical inspectors before making a determination on the Specialized Code, which includes additional requirements beyond what is included in the Stretch Energy Code.
Billed as a strategic roadmap, the CAP recommends a combination of strategies and actions aimed at reducing the sources of pollution that contribute to climate change and mitigating the associated public health and weather-related impacts.
According to the Climate Action Committee, the strategies are “directional,” providing decision-makers with higher-level goals and targets to strive toward, while the actions are “tactical” and focus on specific steps they can take to achieve a given strategy.
The plan also identifies various incentives, rebates, and technical assistance the town can utilize to improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and transition to cleaner, more sustainable technologies.
Besides adoption of the Specialized Energy Code, the CAP also recommends reduction of fossil fuel use in town and school buildings, with the goal of full municipal decarbonization by 2050, and conversion of Canton’s vehicle fleet from running on gasoline and diesel fuel to all electric.
Additionally, the plan outlines the steps needed to achieve the commonwealth’s new Climate Leader Community (CLC) designation, which could unlock as much as $1 million in additional state funding. For more information on the Climate Action Plan, go to town.canton.ma.us/987/Sustainability-Climate-Action-Plan-Commi …
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Posted by Mike Berger
on Jun 12 2025. Filed under Top Stories.
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