SWAMPSCOTT — The Climate Action Plan Committee just released a draft of its “Resilient Swampscott” plan, which will be presented at Town Meeting. But there is still work that needs to be done.
So what’s next? Community input.
The committee will be having an in-person and virtual community meeting Monday at 6:30 to tell the people of Swampscott how the town contributes to climate change, and provide ways to reduce its carbon footprint. The committee is also asking for community members to give their feedback on the “Resilient Swampscott.”
The feedback will then be incorporated into the plan, Committee Vice Chair Doug Thompson said.
“We want to make sure that we’re getting all the input that we can,” Thompson said.
The plan has been in progress since last year’s Town Meeting, when members voted on the necessity of a climate action plan. They also voted that Swampscott should strive to have net-zero emissions by 2050.
“Resilient Swampscott” has two main ways to address climate change: reducing the town’s greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. The committee’s plan is divided between five categories of focus: buildings and energy, transportation, solid waste and recycling, natural resources, and resilience and vulnerability.
Buildings and transportation are the biggest contributors to climate change in town, Thompson said. According to the draft of the plan, buildings make up 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and on-road transportation makes up 34 percent.
To address the transportation aspect, the town will “expand existing bike path and the bike sharing network to connect to public transportation, schools, and businesses,” the plan’s draft said.
For buildings, the town will focus on energy.
“Ensuring a sustainable, resilient future requires shifting our electricity supply to renewable sources,” the draft said.
The committee was also able to secure a Community First Partnership grant that will go toward fighting climate change, Thompson said.
“[The grant] enables us to hire energy advocates to go around door-to-door in Swampscott and Lynn, and make people aware of all of the programs that are available to reduce the cost of weatherization or installing heat pumps or taking other measures to help with building energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions,” Thompson said.
The committee presented its plan to the Select Board Tuesday.
“The Select Board seem to be quite supportive of the plan and even … getting going on it as quickly as possible,” Thompson said.
Once a final draft is completed, it will be inserted into the Town Meeting Warrant. If it is approved by Town Meeting in May, the implementation of the plan will begin.
