'Carbon Free Boston' Puts Priority on Land Use and Transportation Planning

The Boston Green Ribbon Commission released its "Carbon Free Boston" [pdf] report this week, laying out steps to help the entire city achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The findings and recommendations of the report will also help shape the city's Climate Action Plan, reports Milton J. Valencia, who also asks readers to imagine the following, carbon neutral future:

Imagine having to drive an electric car, if you drive a vehicle at all. And if you drive into Boston, you’d have to pay a congestion fee.

Every building in the city would be retrofitted for energy efficiency. All fossil-fuel burning appliances would be converted to electric, too. And we would cut down on many items that end up in the trash, like the city did recently with plastic bags.

According to Valencia, the report pushes the city and its residents to do more, beginning now.

An editorial by the Boston Globe follows the news of the new report by framing the discussion around cars and houses. According to the editorial, "the report makes clear that the success or failure of the city’s climate goals will depend on getting drivers into zero-emission cars and slashing pollution from the city’s drafty old housing stock."

The Boston Green Ribbon Commission completed the report in partnership from the Boston University Institute for Sustainable Energy.