The March 2023 IPCC Report says that we will cross 1.5°C within 10 years—resulting in climate-caused deaths of millions of people, extinction of many plant and animal species, and migration of millions of refugees. New England is heating up faster than the rest of the planet, so we can expect many deaths, extinctions, and refugees here. We have a very brief window to prevent both local and global disaster if—and only if—we take drastic actions for immediate climate mitigation.
What does that mean should we in Newton be doing now? It means not only required electrification of new housing and new cars but also moving aggressively to stop using plastics like artificial turf fields that have deadly PFAS chemicals and to stop destroying trees, which are our best, saftest means to remove and store carbon and to reduce the impacts of heat and flooding.
We need to demand that our officials, both those we elect (Mayor, City Councilors) and those they appoint (commission members), take all necessary climate-mitigation steps. Have Newton officials acted to prevent local and global disaster?
City officials are doing the wrong thing on artificial turf, even though residents have provided written documentation and expert testimony that artificial turf kills, makes climate change worse, costs more to install and maintain and leaves the City open to millions of dollars in liability. But Mayor Fuller’s administration and the majority of Newton City Councilors are racing to install more artificial turf at both high schools, at Albemarle fields, and elsewhere in the City before the Massachusetts state legislature does the right thing and bans artificial turf throughout the state (HD.958, S.2057, S.524).
Newton officials are also doing the wrong thing about trees. In the face of a proposal for a stronger tree protection ordinance, the Mayor’s administration and several Councilors on the Programs & Services Committee want to continue old exemptions that allow indiscriminate cutting of trees without any required offsetting payments or replacement-tree planting. They even want to add new exemptions! I’ve read the proposals closely, and I think these exemptions will result in more trees being cut down than under our current ordinance.
These moves by Mayor Fuller and the majority of City Councilors to block these and other effective and important local climate actions are exactly the reason that we—in Newton, in Massachusetts, in New England, and in the world—face millions of deaths, refugees, and loss of species.
So what can individual Newtonians do? Activist actions are absolutely necessary!
Write to Mayor Fuller, Council President Albright, Programs & Services Chair Councilor Krintzman, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Banks, and to all other City Councilors and officials demanding immediate stoppage of deadly artificial turf and demanding strong disincentives to discourage cutting healthy, not-dangerous trees a half-foot in diameter (6” DBH) and larger across all properties in Newton, with no exemptions.
Come to the NDCC Rally on Earth Day (Sat 4/22) at 1PM at Newton Center Green. Two local residents’ groups—Better Action Now on Artificial Turf in Newton, and Protect Newton Trees—will be there with petitions. Sign our petitions and join our efforts to get Newton officials to take strong Green actions.
Bring signs! Tell Mayor Fuller that she’s not Green unless she stops artificial turf and protects trees without exemptions. Let State Senator Creem, and U.S. Representative Auchincloss know that you support strong climate actions at the local, state, and federal levels to prevent climate-related deaths—here in Newton and globally.
