[act-ma] Urgent climate action by noon, Weds. 5/8
Loie Hayes
loie.hayes at gmail.com
Fri May 3 13:40:40 PDT 2013
Hi Climate Action allies,
Did you see the outrageous ad that GBREB ran in today's Metro? It's using
the threat of rent increases to drum up calls to City Council against the
proposed Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance. I don't know
if you've been following the recent coverage about BERDO, but it's the
first piece of the City's Climate Action Plan that's come up for approval
by the City Council and it's supposed to be voted on next Wednesday. We're
not sure we have the votes so the Green Justice Coalition and BostonCAN are
reaching out to sustainability and justice organizations throughout the
City to ask for support in generating calls to the City Council.
If you live in the City, own property here, or just have friends who live
here, here's my ask: read our template email action alert below, make a
call to your Councilors, and then, most importantly, send it out to folks
who might also be willing to make a few calls in support of the proposed
Ordinance.
Support from tenants rights advocates is especially important in countering
the claims of GBREB.
Thanks in advance for considering,
Loie
template
subject
action alert: call Boston City Council before Wednesday noon
Next Wednesday, May 8th, Boston's City Council is likely to vote on BERDO,
the Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance. We support of BERDO
because it will improve our environment, shrink residents' utility bills,
and create jobs.
Please call your district City Councillor and the at-large Councillors to
request that they support the Ordinance. Call before Wednesday noon. And
reply to this email to share what you learn about the Councilor's position.
So far only Councillors O'Malley, Connolly and Ross have indicated that
they will definitely support the proposal.
Why BERDO is a good idea:
1) Good for public health and the environment. Our neighborhoods are
already plagued by high asthma rates and other illnesses associated with
environmental exposures. More insulation means reduced demand for energy
generated from dirty power plants -- and that means we'll have cleaner air
and improved health. This is a crucial step in the City's Climate Action
Plan. If we can't win this proposal, it doesn't bode well for the other
parts of the plan.
2) Tenants' right to know. Without BERDO prospective tenants and buyers
can't get comparable information about the utility costs of buildings
they're considering moving into. BERDO will help us avoid being stuck in
cold, costly apartments.
3) More building owners will be motivated to improve their buildings. We
have had years of a voluntary benchmarking program for building owners to
know how efficient their buildings are, and many owners and managers have
benchmarked their buildings. Now we need a mandatory program to make sure
that all tenants and prospective owners have the option of living in
buildings that are as energy efficient as financially possible.
4) More jobs. When owners insulate their buildings, they need to hire
people HERE. These are jobs that can't be outsourced.
What BERDO is NOT:
1) No tenants or condo or coop owners will be forced to share their utility
use information.
2) No tenant or condo or coop owners will be fined.
3) Does not apply to small buildings. Only the 1200 largest buildings in
Boston will be required to measure their energy efficiency (25,000 square
feet or larger).
4) We do not expect that building owners will have to spend a lot of time
to do the energy reporting
5) City buildings are not exempt and will be the first to be measured.
More details can be found at:
http://www.bostoncan.org/
http://www.cityofboston.gov/environmentalandenergy/conservation/BERDO.asp
Thanks for taking time to make these calls this week!
Here's contact info for all Councilors:
At-Large City Councillors (elected by voters
throughout the city):
Name
Phone Email
Felix G. Arroyo (617) 635-4205
Felix.Arroyo at cityofboston.gov
John R. Connolly (617) 635-3115
John.R.Connolly at cityofboston.gov
Stephen J. Murphy (617) 635-4376
Stephen.Murphy at cityofboston.gov
Ayanna Pressley (617) 635-4217
Ayanna.Pressley at cityofboston.gov
District City Councillors (elected by voters in the district indicated):
District Councillor
Phone Email
District 1. Salvatore LaMattina (617) 635-3200
Salvatore.LaMattina at cityofboston.gov
East Boston: Ward 1, Pcts 1-14 Charlestown: Ward 2, Pcts 1-7 North
End/Waterfront: Ward 3, Pcts 1-4
City Hall/Beacon Hill/Islands: Ward 3, Pct 6*
District 2. Bill Linehan (617) 635-3203
Bill.Linehan at cityofboston.gov
Chinatown: Ward 3, Pcts 7-8 South Boston: Ward 6, Pcts 1-9; Ward 7, Pcts
1-7 South End: Ward 4, Pcts 1-3; Ward 5, Pct 1; Ward 8, Pct 1; Ward 9, Pct
1 Roxbury/South Bay: Ward 8, Pct 2 Dorchester: Ward 7, Pcts 8-9.
District 3. Frank Baker (617) 635-3455
Frank.Baker at cityofboston.gov
Dorchester: Ward 13, Pcts 3, 6-10; Ward 15, Pcts 1, 3-4, 6-9; Ward 16, Pcts
1-12; Ward 17, Pcts 4, 12-14 Harbor Islands: Ward 1, Pct 15*
District 4. Charles C. Yancey (617) 635-3131
Charles.Yancey at cityofboston.gov
Dorchester: Ward 14 Pcts 1-4, 6-7, 9-13; Ward 15 Pcts 2, 5; Ward 17, Pcts
1-3, 5-11 Mattapan: Ward 14, Pcts 5, 8, 14; Ward 18, Pcts 1-2, 4
District 5. Rob Consalvo (617) 635-4210
Rob.Consalvo at cityofboston.gov
Hyde Park: Ward 18, Pcts 5-6, 8, 12-20, 23 Roslindale: Ward 18 Pcts 7,
9-11, 22; Ward 19, Pcts 10-11, 13; Ward 20, Pcts 1-2, 4, 8-9 Mattapan:
Ward 18, Pct 3, 21
District 6. Matt O’Malley (617) 635-4220 Matt.O’
Malley at cityofboston.gov
Jamaica Plain: Ward 10, Pcts 6, 7, 9; Ward 11, Pcts 4, 6-10; Ward 19, Pcts
1-9, 12 West Roxbury: Ward 20, Pcts 3, 5-7,10-20
District 7: Tito Jackson (617) 635-3510
Tito.Jackson at cityofboston.gov
Roxbury: Ward 8, Pcts 3-4, 7; Ward 9, Pcts 3-5; Ward 11, Pcts 1-3, 5; Ward
12, Pcts 1-9 Dorchester: Ward 7, Pct 10; Ward 8, Pcts 5-6; Ward 13, Pcts
1-2, 4-5 South End Ward 4, Pct 4; Ward 9, Pct 2 Fenway: Ward 4, Pct 5, 8-9
District 8: Michael P. Ross (617) 635-4225
Michael.Ross at cityofboston.gov
Back Bay/Beacon Hill: Ward 5, Pcts 3-11 Fenway/Kenmore: Ward 4, Pcts 6-7,
10; Ward 5, Pct 2 Mission Hill: Ward 10, Pcts 1-5, 8 West End: Ward 3,
Pct 5 Allston: Ward 21, Pcts 1-2
District 9: Mark S. Ciommo (617) 635-3113
Mark.Ciommo at cityofboston.gov
Allston: Ward 21, Pcts 3-8; Ward 22, Pcts 1-2 Brighton: Ward 21, Pcts
9-16; Ward 22, Pcts 3-13
--
--
Loie Hayes
Coordinator
Boston Climate Action Network
617-278-1885
c 857-544-6846
http://BostonCAN.org
--
Sent from Gmail Mobile
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