“Too often, the needs of the environment are pitted against other top priorities, like affordable housing or workforce debuilt. Building dense housing in Cambridge means less sprawling, carbon-intensive suburban development, fewer vehicle miles traveled, and more use of transit and active transportation (and, by reducing commute times, increases quality of life).” – Burhan Azeem
“I believe the city should invest in a small, agile civic research team that experiments with, or simply facilitates local partnerships enabling, exploratory pilot initiatives in areas like smart infrastructure, new green technologies, and efficient mobility.” – Dana Bullister
“The best way for commercial interests to support green/resiliency/etc. is through funding public transportation. One of my core policies is for Cambridge to lead the way in public infrastructure nationwide; KSA could join in and support this.” – Robert Eckstut
“True Sustainability and resiliency is much broader than just being focused on individual buildings and should include Community, Cultural and Economic Sustainability and Resiliency. Each must be considered to create a healthy city. Kendall Square is a dynamic part of Cambridge but its links to all four levels vary in intensity and the square’s impact on the surrounding neighborhoods can always be improved.” – Dennis Carlone, incumbent
“Obtaining environmental justice for residents in Cambridge requires connecting advances in climate technology with those who need it the most. The companies in Kendall Square have done an amazing job incorporating sustainable technologies on their own campuses and buildings. I would like to see the benefits from these advances shared with other areas of Cambridge, particularly those residents who can least afford to buy into these technologies on their own.” – Tonia Hicks
“Too often, the needs of the environment are pitted against other top priorities, like affordable housing or workforce development, but they are all, and should be, intertwined. Kendall Square is not only the leader in biotech and other types of innovation, but can also be a leader in sustainability. Utilizing green building techniques like LEED Platinum, geothermal wells, and rooftop solar, Kendall Square can be a hub for technology as well as a hub for sustainability.” – Alanna Mallon, incumbent
“Although Cambridge and Kendall Square have made some important steps, we know that the battle against climate change is ongoing. We need to continue to build housing and services so that people can live and play closer to where they work. We need to work with the state to improve our public transportation system.” – Marc McGovern, incumbent
“I believe that creating more housing, both at market and affordable housing, is important so that we do not displace current residents. Our city is fortunate to have the means and resources to mitigate climate change for its residents. But as housing costs continue to rise, we are at risk of creating climate refugees if we do not make every effort to allow lower income residents to remain, as well as allowing new residents of every economic background to have an opportunity to live here.” – Joe McGuirk
“The only path to fossil fuel free is electrification – one reason the substation project is so exciting. And yet, we need to reduce energy need, especially in labs, so our grid can handle all buildings being all electric. And have as much on-site renewable as possible- or the grid will be insufficient to meet demand.” – Patricia Nolan, incumbent
“There has not been adequate attention paid to those who are among our most vulnerable, least-affluent members of the community? How do we work to ensure that they are part of the solution, how do we make it easier for them to participate (for example, through strengthening our network of public transportation options, or creating more affordable housing so that people can live within walking or biking distance to their jobs)? How do we address the needs of our local small businesses, many of whom are struggling to survive during this pandemic era? These are critical questions that need to be raised – and answered – not just in Cambridge, but statewide and at the federal level.” – Denise Simmons, incumbent
“The 2021 Resilient Cambridge Plan, and the 2015 & 2017 Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments for the City of Cambridge have affirmed what we already knew: climate change is already impacting our city, and the impacts will become much more severe in the future if we do not take immediate action. I believe actions on climate must both lower our carbon footprint to reduce future harm and make Cambridge more resilient to the impacts from the damage that’s already been done.” – Theodora Theo Skeadas
“As a city we should be modeling best practices and transitioning our own buildings and fleets of vehicles towards environmentally friendly alternatives. With regard to private business and construction we should be working to support them with this transition as well and using the tools of zoning, building regulation and infusions of federal infrastructure dollars to move buildings and transit into the future.” – Paul Toner
“Public transit is both one of the most sustainable methods of transportation and serves a disproportionate number of low-income residents and people of color. Cambridge should help improve bus travel with dedicated bus-lanes and signal priority, especially on routes that have both high ridership and high delay like the #1 bus. Fare-free buses are also a way to both improve equity and speed service, since riders paying while boarding delays bus travel.” – Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, incumbent
“We also must utilize efficient designs to expand net zero ready building requirements for new construction for not only municipal development, but also for private development. I will advocate to ban fracked gas consumption to rapidly reduce its carbon emissions. As a city councillor, I will monitor our city’s investments to ensure there is no support for fossil fuel companies.” – Nicola Williams
“This year I introduced the Green New Deal Zoning Petition. This zoning petition proposes that we collect a fee based on the emissions a new commercial building will produce over its lifetime, using the money to do energy efficiency projects and fund green jobs training programs with direct benefit to low income and minority communities. We have an opportunity to socialize our zoning code by redistributing wealth in order to green our city and create economic opportunity for those closest to the pain.” – Quinton Zondervan, incumbent