For Mayor Menino, a healthy environment is not just a global concern; it is a local necessity. From landmark public health legislation to pioneer environmental policy, Mayor Menino is making Boston a better place to live, work and play.
It may not be easy being green, but that doesn’t stop Mayor Menino. Through his leadership, Boston has shot ahead of other cities as a leader in environmental policy and was recently recognized as the “3rd Greenest City in North America” by Popular Science Magazine.
Open space enhancements, community tree planting, expanded recycling, sustainable transportation and bike access amenities are improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods. And Boston is leading the way on the clean energy front, through energy conservation, renewable energy development, and by training city residents for good paying green jobs.
Boston became the first city in the nation to implement green building zoning, requiring all large construction projects to follow the US Green Building Council’s LEED standards. Mayor Menino pushed for a federal Energy Efficiency Block Grant in Washington, resulting in $6.5 million in additional funding for clean energy projects for our city. Former Vice President Al Gore joined the Mayor recently to announce Renew Boston, a program that will promote energy-efficient and renewable technology projects that create good green jobs though the new federal Energy Efficiency Block Grant.
Mayor Menino has also filed a package of “green” legislation at the State House, to provide businesses and everyday people with additional incentives for going green. Some of the bills filed by Menino for the 2009-2010 legislative session includes: increased solar hot water applications under current building code and regulation, green building income tax and excise tax credits, tax deductions for businesses that provide their employees with home energy efficiency audits, increased bio-thermal energy and groundwater protection tax credits for home and property owners.
Last fall, Mayor Menino announced the Lights Out Boston, a partnership with large commercial property owners to shut off all nonessential lighting in Boston’s largest buildings between the hours of 11 PM and 5 AM. This program not only saves energy, but it protects birds during the spring and fall migratory bird seasons. The Lights Out Boston partnership recently received the EPA Merit Award on Earth Day 2009.
Mayor Menino’s substantial portfolio of environmental programming includes a plan to plant 100,000 trees by 2020 through Grow Boston Greener, a goal to expand solar installation to 25 megawatts under the Solar Boston initiative, and increasing recycling in neighborhoods by more than 50% through the Recycle More program.
Mayor Menino knows that green is not only good for our environment, but it saves residents and businesses money and stimulates our local economy. Through these efforts and more, Mayor Menino is quickly “turning Beantown into Greentown.”
Mayor Menino knows that green is not only the color of the spring – it’s the future of the city.
Improving Our Environment
To better “green” Boston’s buildings, Mayor Menino directed Boston to become the first major City to write LEED environmental standards into its zoning code. To reduce the Boston’s reliance on fossil fuels and optimize its resources, the Mayor has invested in installing solar panels, increased incentives for hybrid cabs, and expanded recycling programs for residents and businesses. And, recognizing the economic growth opportunity in environmental technology, the Mayor has supported the development of Boston green business sector. With the new federal Energy Block Grant soon to send millions of new dollars to our city, Boston is well positioned for future “green” growth.
Investing in Open Space and Recreation
During Mayor Tom Menino’s tenure, the City has acquired hundreds of acres of new parklands – from Millenium Park in West Roxbury to the East Boston Greenway, and invested tens of millions of dollars on park improvements. Mayor Menino has launched Grow Boston Greener, a campaign to plant 100,000 trees in Boston, and has worked to open up the harbor islands as a natural resource for everyone. An avid cyclist himself, Mayor Menino has launched Boston Bikes – a comprehensive campaign to encourage biking and support bicyclists in Boston.
Increasing Public Health
A healthy environment has long been a priority for the Mayor. Early in his tenure, he managed the merger of two struggling hospitals to create the successful Boston Medical Center, a hospital that continues Boston’s commitment to health care for all. His campaigns to reduce asthma and lead paint poisoning have had dramatic impacts on the health of Boston’s children. In collaboration with the Public Health Commission, Mayor Menino has helped residents live healthier by doing everything from creating walking clubs to banning trans fats and smoking in Boston’s restaurants to launching a pilot program to bring healthier food to our schoolchildren.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 By Mass High Tech staff
The City of Boston has won a $1.3 million Solar America Cities grant to use in creating a solar evacuation route, Mayor Tom Menino announced on Tuesday.
The funds come from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which has brought a total of almost $240 million to Boston for various transportation, community, school and environmental projects.
Plans for the evacuation route, considered a “readiness” plan in blackout or natural disaster situations, include backup photovoltaic systems for the city’s main emergency-vehicle fueling station, in addition to solar-powered traffic control and monitoring devices, lighting and emergency radio repeaters. The route runs along Washington Street in Boston and will feature solar-powered street lights, traffic lights, video cameras and message boards.
Boston qualified for the grant by being named a Solar America City — one of 13 designated cities — in 2007. The new grant-funded plan meets standards established by ReadyBoston, a community emergency preparedness initiative.
It’s hopping at the Asian American Civic Association (AACA). This 42-year-old community-based organization in Boston Chinatown rolls out new services, programs and projects practically every month. Buds and Blossoms, the first Mandarin-speaking childcare center in Boston, will open this November at AACA’s facility on Tyler Street. AACA’s Youth Center, which kicked off this spring, has already gained wide recognition for its well-rounded youth programs. And there’s more.
As an effort to echo environmental awareness, AACA is also participating in numerous ‘green’ projects, which seek...
Thank you, Jim Hunt. And thanks to Conny Doty and your staff for doing a great job on this grant proposal. It’s always great to be at the state-of-the-art Mattapan Library. Together, we’ve built up Blue Hill Avenue. Together, we are going to green it.
An important part of our progressive agenda for Boston is capturing the economic benefits of green technology. And making them available to all of our residents. We can only achieve this goal if we invite all Bostonians into this process, and empower them to seize new opportunities.
(NECN: Kristen Caira, Boston, Mass.) - The streets around Boston's City Hall were shut down to traffic for the city's first professional cycling race.
The TD Bank Mayor's Cup attracted the top cyclists from around the nation on Saturday.
"It's special because we can't venues like this to race, and when we get venues like this, we get crowds like this," racer Kyle Wamsely said.
Mayor Thomas Menino said that this race was the first step in making Boston a world-class bicycling city.
"It's part of our Greener Boston. We have put 250 bike racks in, we'll have 500 in by this time next year," Mayor Menino said. "Also, we've got bike lanes -- we're increasing the bike lanes."...
MLEV Cites Menino’s Strong Leadership on Climate Change
Boston, MA-- The Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters (MLEV), the non-partisan political voice for the environment, today announced its unanimous endorsement of Mayor Thomas M. Menino for reelection, citing his strong leadership on environmental issues that affect both Boston and the Commonwealth. A press conference to officially issue the endorsement was held at NEXUS Green Building Resource Center, a 9,000 square foot public center in Downtown Boston that provides free resources, events and a wealth of information on green building and sustainable design to the general public and the building industry.
“MLEV is proud to endorse Tom Menino for reelection...
By Benjamin Bell | Sunday, July 5, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
The traditional asphalt, slate and tar on Bay State rooftops is beginning to give way to grass, arugula and artichokes - a trend spurring a proposed “green roof” state tax credit.
“We can turn our unused space into a beautiful space with so many functions,” said Karen L. Weber, president of Earth Our Only Home, a Boston-based green consultancy that has installed green roofs on private residences and businesses including WGBH. “It’s just a matter of saying this needs to happen.”
A green roof, which can cost anywhere from $8 to $15 per square foot to install, consists of a series of layers - including a waterproof membrane, a root barrier, a water retention layer, a planting medium and plants - laid atop a traditional roof. The end result is a roof that looks more like a lawn or garden.
Advocates say they protect roofs, provide sound insulation, manage storm water and provide fresh oxygen, reduce ambient air temperature and absorb pollutants.
“I am ecstatic about the roof and it is really more than I expected,” said Alex Macalalad, 42, a Newton doctor who had Weber’s company install a green roof filled with low-maintenance plants...
FIFTY YEARS ago this month, the Central Artery opened for business. Envisioned as the panacea for Boston’s ages-old traffic ills, Mayor John B. Hynes described the new skyway as “a bright new highway in a bright new city.’’
The new expressway saved downtown Boston. The economic malaise that plagued the old city since the Depression faded fast, as public investments in the new highway and new public parking garages gave the “New Boston’’ an image makeover and increased downtown land values. The nexus between this public investment in infrastructure and the private investment that followed was unmistakable: The same year the Artery opened, two new corporate headquarters rose in the Financial District. More quickly followed.
It was not long, however, before signs of trouble emerged. Less than a decade later, rush-hour traffic jams became commonplace. As new development continued to embrace downtown Boston, the highway became increasingly overburdened and eventually failed altogether, choking on too much of a good thing that its planners had not foreseen. Ultimately, the Central Artery was a victim of its own success.
Fast-forward 50 years. Billions of federal dollars, Swiss-watch engineering on a grand scale, and...
By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Correspondent | May 3, 2009
With water once so filthy that solid waste regularly washed up on its shores, Boston is slowly shedding its "dirty water" image. In fact, public officials say the Boston area coastline - Nahant to Nantasket, Southie to Eastie - could have the cleanest urban beaches in the United States by 2011.
Yesterday morning, one local nonprofit behind many of these efforts gave grant funding to community groups to help local residents enjoy the fruits of this labor.
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay issued $30,500 in grants to 13 local organizations to sponsor events at beaches all over the Boston area. These events, part of the Better Beaches initiative, are all free and include concerts, bird watching, family reading nights, sporting events, and a whimsical pirate festival on Revere Beach.
"This is about more than picking up trash," said E. Bruce Berman Jr., director of strategy, communications, and programs for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. "Events and programs could bring people together on our beachfront communities."
The grants range from $500 to $4,000, and will help launch events like a beach festival in Dorchester and an "Endless Summer Waterfront Festival" in Hull the day after Labor Day....
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, a sometime biking enthusiast, is scheduled today to present Geekhouse Bike Co. a check for a $70,000 loan from the Boston Local Development Corp., his office said.
Founded in 2004, Geekhouse is an Allston-based bicycle manufacturing business that produces bicycle frames for riders who seek a custom built product.
Geekhouse offers seven models of stock bike frames that can be customized by adding a variety of features, both mechanical and esthetic, and it sells those frames to individuals, retail stores, and international distributors, the mayor's office said in a media advisory.
"While our original frames were designed in-house and outsourced for manufacturing, our newest line of frames are now being both designed and hand-crafted by yours truly in our new work space in Allston, Mass.," Martin Walsh of Geehouse noted on the company's website.
Boston Local Development Corp. "provides loans of up to $150,000 for businesses in, orrelocating to, the City of Boston," a spokeswoman for the mayor wrote in an e-mail. "These loans can be used when buying a new business property, purchasing equipment and machinery, constructing an addition to an existing plant, making leasehold improvements, or providing working capital to grow your business."
First the good news. Barack Obama has moved into the White House. Finally we have a president who understands global warming and climate change and is committed to addressing this very serious problem.
The importance of this sea change cannot be underestimated. It’s cause for real hope and celebration this Earth Day.
The bad news, of course, is that we still aren’t doing enough about climate change and we’ve lost a lot of time.
We now need to catch up with the European countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol and used the George W. Bush years to become global leaders in energy efficiency and solar, wind and other renewable energy technologies. These technologies are the primary strategies for addressing climate change because they reduce reliance on coal, oil and natural gas, the main culprits in global warming. They are also key to the much-heralded green economy.
To put the brakes on climate change we need to do more than just replace our incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents—though everyone please do this! Success depends on implementing completely new energy policies and practices on all levels of our society. While citizen pressure on Congress and the White House is still needed, it is clear...
A “Renew Boston” initiative will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the city to 7 percent below 1990 levels over the next three years, according to an announcement made yesterday by Mayor Thomas Menino and former Vice President Al Gore.
Through $6.5 million in funding from the federal stimulus package, the plan, if successful, would also take greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
A 21-member Boston Climate Action Leadership Committee has been formed to monitor implementation of the public-private partnership, designed to boost energy efficiency and alternative energy services to residents and businesses.
“We will take Boston’s leadership as a model green city to another level and foster a low carbon economy that supports investment and job creation,” Menino said alongside Gore at Boston Latin School.
